Learn more about solid waste recycling

Metals

 
 

Aluminum

  • Recycling aluminum takes only 5% of the energy needed to produce it"" (The Aluminum Association)

  • The most sustainable packaging is aluminum cans for beverage. (Infinitely Recyclable, The Aluminum Association).

  • 75% of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today(Infinitely Recyclable, The Aluminum Association).

  • Aluminum takes 200-500 years to decompose (GLE Scrap Metal, 2025)

Copper

  • It takes less energy to recycle copper than mine for new copper (Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, 2021)

Steel

  • Using recycled steel reduces water pollution by 76% and air pollution 86% (GLE Scrap Metal, 2025)

  • Stainless steel can be recycled into stainless steel without affecting quality at all (Industiral Metal Services, 2024)

  • The number of times that 304 stainless steel, which is the type of commercial stainless steel, can be recycled into new metal: 8

  • It takes between 528 and 92,460 gallons of water to produce 1 ton of steel (Environmental Protection Agency, 2024).

Lead

  • Lead is the most recycled consumer product globally (International Lead Association)

  • Prioritizing reuse and recycling at the local level aids in the effort to minimize outsourcing of unregulated toxic materials recycling to vulnerable global communities. Lead recycling being one of the leading concerns. The profitability of lead compared to other e-waste makes it more desirable and susceptible to more unregulated activity that prioritizes the profit. However this unregulated nature contributes to serious public health concerns that are primarily impacting children on global scale. (Pearce, 2020) e360Yale)-https://e360.yale.edu/features/getting-the-lead-out-why-battery-recycling-is-a-global-health-hazard

E-Waste Mining

  • When recovering elements/metals from waste, especially ewaste, the idea is to shift our focus regardiing what we are mining. Instead of mining from the earth, why not mine from the ewaste that already contains the precious metals we need. Presenting a more sustainable alternative. ("Critical minerals recovery from electronic waste", 2024) https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/critical-minerals-recovery-electronic-waste

  • Expansion of renewable resources relies on the availability of precious metals. For example electric vehicles and wind trubines rely on magnets that contain REE to function. Therefore, effective methods of sustaining precious metals such as through e-waste mining become especially significant. (Wang & Subban, 2024) https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/su/d3su00403a

Tech

E-Waste

  • Why is it important? It's the fastest growing waste category. It reduces the need for mining metals directly from the Earth. Less energy is needed to recycle or extract valuables from e-waste compared to mining them directly from the Earth, making recycling e-waste produce less emissions as well. https://www.oregon.gov/deq/ecycles/pages/why.aspx

  • Worldwide, the annual generation of e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tonnes annually, on track to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, a further 33% increase from the 2022 figure" (unitar, 2024). https://unitar.org/about/news-stories/press/global-e-waste-monitor-2024-electronic-waste-rising-five-times-faster-documented-e-waste-recycling

  • At a 100% recycling rate, Minnesota’s e-waste stream could supply enough copper for 155,000 EVs per year. (Jensen et al. 2023)

  • A preliminary study done by Jensen et al. (2023) found the following data on MN e-Waste:

    • Approximately 76% of e-Waste in Minnesota ends up in landfills MN sees over 266 million pounds of e-Waste a year

    • That value contains 78 million pounds of precious elements worth $3.2 billion/year

    • If we are able to collect 100% of MN’s e-waste, we could potentially create more than 3,000 jobs in the state
      https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5829dc7ad482e98c45949d85/t/650894db6a67e450478a432f/1695061214915/8-31-23_e-waste_report_final_withreferences.pdf

 

Cell Phones

  • Recycling 1 cell phone saves enough energy for 44 hours of laptop battery. (EPA, 2010)

  • 1 ton of smartphones contain 100 times more gold than a ton of gold ore (BBC, 2014)

  • 1 million recycled cell phones (GAO, 2020) =

    • 75 lbs of gold

    • 772 lbs of silver

    • 35,274 lbs of copper

Computers

  • The U.S. EPA estimates that recycling one million computers prevents the release of greenhouse gases equivalent to the annual emissions of over 17,000 cars ("Why is E-Cycling Important?", Oregon.gov)

  • According to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, one metric ton of e-waste from computers contains more gold than that recovered from 17 tons of gold ore ("Why is E-Cycling Important?", Oregon.gov)

Ink/Toner Cartridges

  • 375 million toner/ink cartridges scrapped per year. 11 cartridges per second. 70% of ink and 50% of toner cartridges end up in landfills. Timeframe for cartridges to decompose: 450-1000 years (Vasudevan, Kalamkar, & Terkar, 2012) https://www.ijimt.org/papers/202-CM026.pdf

  • The best way to reduce the environmental impact of using inkjet cartridges is refilling them multiple times, however purchasing multiple ink cartridges at once can reduce the environmental impact even more (Krystofik, Babbit, and Gasutad, 2014).

  • For every 100,000 used cartridges recycled, we can save 9599 kg of aluminum, 40 tons of plastic, and 1,000,000 L of oil (A Greener Refill, 2009)" (Ding, Shen, & Feng, 2020)
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652620328596

Food Waste

  • For a study (2022), plant based food waste was separated into 3 categories: vegetables, grains, and fruit. Grain food waste took up the most water to process followed by vegetable then fruit. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956053X22003531

  • About 62% of the food that is thrown out in Minnesota is still in good condition to eat (MPCA).
    https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land-climate/preventing-wasted-food

  • In the US, 30-40% of the food produced ends up as food waste. In 2010, the food loss percentage was calculated to be 31% which equates to 133 billion pounds of food, and $161 billion worth of food (Food Waste FAQ's, USDA)
    https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-waste/food-waste-faqs

  • In 2010 the EPA found that on average, each person in the US is responsible for 218.9lb of food waste. The goal is to reduce this value by half by 2030 (Food Waste FAQ's, USDA).

  • The composting sector in Minnesota is responsible for creating 700 jobs and generating $148 million dollars in surplus each year. “The composting industry supports four to eight times more jobs on a per ton basis than landfilling operations” (MPCA, 2025).

  • One third of the waste that ends up in MN landfills is organics. MN has 9 large organics composting sites you can drop off your organic waste at (MPCA, 2025).

 

Paper/Cardboard

  • Recycling one pound of paper saves 3.5 gallons of water (DWSWA, 2023)

  • In 2024 the paper recycling rate for the US was 60%-64%, which equates to 46 million tons of paper (American Forest and Paper Association, 2025).

  • In 2024 the cardboard recycling rate for the US was 69%-74%, which equates to 33 million tons of cardboard (American Forest and Paper Association, 2025).

  • It takes between 21,000 and 528,000 gallons of water to produce 1 ton of paper (EPA, 2024).

Hazardous Waste

PFAS (forever chemicals)

  • The carcinogenic nature of this chemical along with the other health/environmental risks make it that much more important to keep it away from landfills. Especially with PFAS being known as forever chemicals.

  • According to a study by Zhao et al. (2023): E-waste contributes a significant amount to PFAS contamination, however the electronics industry is often overlooked when it comes to larger issue of tackling PFAS pollution. According to their study, Zhao et al. found high concentrations of the PFAS contamination in workers in electronics dismantling facilities, in South China. They analyzed the dust and hand wipes from the facilities and homes. The two main forms of exposure appear to be hand-to-mouth and dust ingestion.

  • PFAS can be found in electronic components like:

    • cables

    • circuit boards

    • soldering agents

    • flame retardants

    • hard drives

Toxins

  • The US EPA found that electronics contribute to 40% of the lead and 70% of the other toxins found in landfills ("Why is E-Cycling Important?", Oregon.gov)

Outsourcing waste

  • Guiyu is comprised of some villages in southeast Asia and ended up having the ""world’s highest rate of carcinogenic toxins in its soil and that local children’s blood contained dangerously high lead levels"" in 2015 due to America's e-waste exports (Singh, 2019). China shut down many of the operations in Guiyu due to the results of the study which then created the shift towards Hong Kong as a new hub for e-waste. An estimated 20% of US E-waste ends up in Hong Kong (Singh, 2019).

  • The US is exacerbating the medical issues internationally that we spend money to solve by exporting e-waste.

  • US exports e-Waste to unregulated e-waste tear down sites -> exposure to the e-waste incereases frequency of poisonings/medical issues -> US spends money to provide aid for such medical issues

  • EX: US+UN promised to help reduce global maternal health --> US sends e-waste to Guiyu --> The hazardous material poison people --> Guiyu has one of the highest rates of miscarraiges globally (Singh, 2019)."

Additional Resources

Support for Ebb & Flow Comes From

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum acknowledges the generous support to make this exhibition possible from our members, our corporate Friends of MMAM, the Mardag Foundation, the Elizabeth Callender King Foundation, and the Morgan Family Foundation. Special thanks to our media partner, KSMQ, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. 

This exhibition project is presented by MMAM, a nonprofit art museum located on the shores of the Upper Mississippi River.


Lead exhibition sponsor:

Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation


Media sponsor:

 
 

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts & cultural heritage fund.