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Trucks pile up in Wipers parking lot

Five semis are parked in Wipers driveway, but the doors remain closed for lack of necessary city permits.

Star Tribune Sat, 05 Apr 2008
Test recycling program offers new life for old shoes

These shoes are made for ... recycling? The REI store for outdoors enthusiasts is now accepting customers' funky old shoes as part of a test recycling program in partnership with Maplewood-based Wipers Recycling and the Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM), officials recently announced. Wipers Recycling will collect, grind and repackage the shoes into oil-absorbing spill kits for use in industrial settings, airports, rivers, lakes and parks. The effort, called "Run in and Recycle," is part of a greater plan to boost Minnesota's recycling rates from 40 percent now to 50 percent by 2011, RAM organizers said. Just a few weeks old, the program has proved so successful that REI officials expect to roll it out to 100 other stores, according to Barb Eytinge, who manages REI's Bloomington store. Right now, just three stores are testing the idea: Bloomington, Seattle and Denver. "Our customers are excited about it," Eytinge said. As of Friday, customers had chucked 1,500 pounds (320 cubic feet) of used shoes, boots and sneakers into REI's collection trunk at the front door in Bloomington. A fifth delivery run to Wipers is scheduled for next week.

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