A year of reusing and recycling at the Environmental Center
Over a million pounds of hazardous waste and electronics collected
Inside a massive warehouse, huge boxes on pallets are piled deep with computer keyboards, cords, Christmas lights, bulbs and batteries. Unwanted laptops are stacked in compartments like a filing cabinet.
There’s motor oil, cooking oil, aerosol cans, cleaning solvents, paint. Food scraps, propane tanks, plastic bags, sharps from needles. Toaster ovens, microwaves, blenders and bread makers. Car batteries, flat-screen TVs, and discarded campaign lawn signs.
Some are damaged and some are just like new—all get sorted into bins and boxes.
There are even bed mattresses getting loaded into a truck through the end of the month. More than 300 a week have been dropped off in the temporary program since the beginning of March.
A year of household donations
Let's take a look at the volume of unwanted household items that have been collected at the Ramsey County Environment Center since it opened a year ago in Roseville.
Since April 2025, the Ramsey County Environmental Center has recycled or properly disposed of more than 1.4 million pounds of household hazardous waste and electronics.
How much? That’s roughly the equivalent weight of 70,000 watermelons. Or 40 to 50 school buses. Or 280,000 Chihuahuas.
More stats
- The Environmental Center was visited by more than 33,000 residents who dropped off household hazardous waste and electronics.
- The facility collected nearly 200,000 pounds of cardboard, paper, cans and bottles for recycling.
- It recycled 194,000 pounds of scrap metal.
- It diverted 128 cubic yards of food scraps for composting.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
“Our mission is really to move stuff up in the recycling hierarchy—reduce, reuse, recycle,” said Dan Schmidt, Ramsey County environmental division manager for planning, programs and operations. “Reuse is, for us, more important than recycling.”
Electronics are scrubbed and refurbished. Working TVs with a base can be donated. Paint is collected and made available for free pickup in the center’s Reuse Room.
Schmidt said mixing discarded paint can result in some unique color combinations. The color of one of the first mixtures was dubbed “Thousand Island Dressing.” Staff thought no one would want it “but it was the first to go,” he said, adding that most of the combo colors are beige and gray.
The Reuse Room items, which include cleaning supplies and aerosols, are free, but visitors are asked to limit what they take home, Schmidt said. Even the decorative wooden endpieces of the shelving in the Reuse Room is recycled. The furniture-grade wood comes from diseased ash trees.
Drop-off is free and simple. There’s a drive-thru at the warehouse section of the building for electronics, hazardous household waste and small appliances. Inside, it’s sorted and prepared for pickup by recycling groups and businesses. “We weigh and track everything,” Schmidt said.
Metal, cardboard and food scraps are unloaded into giant bins north of the warehouse—another drive-thru area—called the “Z Wall” for the positions of the bins. Large magnets determine whether scrap metal is aluminum or steel.
Plastic bags for food scraps are available at a drop-off site near the Z Wall. Center supervisor Pete Miller said residents who are reluctant to collect food scraps separately should consider that they’re putting that refuse in the garbage, anyway, and this is just a separate container.
“It’s one container vs. another,” Miller said. Some people who are worried about the smell keep their food scraps in the freezer.
Roseville is scheduled to get curbside food scrap pick-up recycling this winter, Schmidt said.
The Environmental Center’s website has a complete list of items that are accepted at the center. The website has a map and directions for drop-off and helpful tips such as best times to visit to avoid long lines.
A sustainable building
In the works for two decades, the Environmental Center project got the green light in 2021, according to Schmidt. The delay wasn’t all bad, he added, since technology and aesthetics improved during that time.
Built on county land that had been previously used to stage equipment, the center generates about 90 percent of its own energy with solar panels on the enormous warehouse roof. Heating and cooling are geothermal.
The center also has safety features in place—such as sensors that activate ventilation—for the household hazardous waste.
The location at 1700 Kent St., Roseville, just off Larpenteur, is centrally located. It's about a ten minute drive from anywhere in Ramsey County, Schmidt said. The facility is also open to residents throughout the seven-county metro area.
The cost of the overall project was approximately $29 million, according to Ramsey County officials. Operating costs are covered by the county’s environmental charge on residents’ tax bills, Schmidt said.
Upcoming events
Open house
- What: Earth Day Open House Celebration
- When: April 18 | 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
- Details: Tours, upcycle crafts, story time, sow native seeds or take them home
Fix-it Clinic
The center hosts regular fix-it clinics with volunteers helping participants repair home appliances.
- Next clinic: April 25 | 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
- Details: Three item limit
Plate to Garden
- When: May 2 | 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
- Details: Free compost giveaway. Three bag limit
Garden tool swap
Donate or take gently used garden tools .
- When: Wednesdays in May | 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturdays May 9 & 16 | 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Details: Clean donations at home before arriving at the swap.
