Public Input Sought on Zero Waste Draft Plan

In June of 2015 the Minneapolis City Council established a goal to recycle and compost 50% of its citywide waste by 2020 and 80% by 2030. The resolution also called for zero-percent growth in the City’s total waste stream from levels set in 2010. In 2015 the city of Minneapolis formed the Zero Waste Policy Work Group to develop a plan to meet those goals and set new ones. The city is has begun the drafting of a zero-waste plan and will host a series of engagement sessions for residents and business representatives.

 The draft plan can downloaded here: https://www.scribd.com/document/358292142/Zero-Waste-Draft-Plan

 Resident/Community Meetings

 6-8 p.m. Sept. 11, Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave. N.

 6-8 p.m. Sept. 14, Matthews Park, 2318 29th Ave. S.

 6-8 p.m., Sept. 18, City Church, 1501 W. 54th St.

 6-8 p.m. Sept. 21, Sabathani Community Center, 310 E. 38th St.

 Session for Haulers/Business Community

1:30-3:30 p.m., Sept. 19, CR Currie Conf Ctr 135 PW (100), 1220 Currie Ave. North

 For those residents unable to attend one of the above sessions, an online survey is available. Please share your thoughts by completing the survey.

First Full Year of Organics Recycling Data Released

More than 45,000 households have signed up to participate in the City’s organics recycling program. The City collects food scraps, coffee grounds, meat trimmings, paper towels and many other items weekly from households for composting. In the first full year since organics recycling rolled out citywide, participating residents – almost 43 percent of Solid Waste and Recycling customers – diverted almost 4,000 tons of organics from the trash for composting. That’s 175 pounds of organics per household.

And it’s pretty clean; less than 1 percent of what residents are placing in carts is not acceptable material. The most common contaminants were plastic-lined paper products. This includes decorative paper plates, boxes from frozen pizza and other frozen foods, take and bake pizza trays, paper ice cream tubs, milk cartons, non-compostable to-go containers and coffee cups, Chinese food containers, butcher paper and butter wraps.

Customers who participate in organics recycling allow organic material to be put to a better use through composting. Solid Waste & Recycling customers who have not signed up to participate in the program may do so at any time by visiting www.minneapolismn.gov/organics. There is no extra cost, but they have to sign up. Residents who participate in the program may be able to reduce the size of their garbage carts and save money on their City of Minneapolis utility bills.

Organics recycling includes:

• All food scraps including fruits, vegetables, bones, meat, breads, pasta, nut shells, eggshells and dairy products.

• Non-recyclable and food-soiled paper products including paper towels, napkins, facial tissues, egg cartons and pizza boxes.

• Certified compostable paper cups, plates, bowls, utensils, bags and takeout containers.

• Other compostable items including coffee grounds; tea bags; wood chopsticks, Popsicle sticks and toothpicks; hair; and houseplant trimmings.

Organics recycling does not include yard waste; pet waste, litter or bedding; milk cartons; ice cream tubs; Chinese food containers; dryer lint; dryer sheets; diapers; sanitary products; cleaning or baby wipes; grease; oil; Styrofoam; foil-lined products; non-certified compostable bags and food service items; or products labeled “biodegradable.”

Find more information at www.minneapolismn.gov/organics.

City Recycling Guides & 2016 Recycling Results

City of Minneapolis recycling customers should watch their mailboxes for City Solid Waste & Recycling services guides arriving soon. The guides include information on all City Solid Waste and Recycling services from recycling and organics to large items such as mattresses, furniture and TVs. They even include information on how to get rid of excess household garbage and construction and demolition debris at the City’s transfer station, how to dispose of hazardous waste and resources to reduce waste. The guide also lists what customers can and can’t recycle through the City’s Solid Waste and Recycling service, and it shows all their recycling pickup dates through March 2018. Customers can sign up at www.minneapolismn.gov/solid-waste to get email reminders before every recycling day.

2016 recycling results

In 2016, Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling customers recycled 500 tons more of paper products and plastic, glass and metal food and beverage containers than in 2015. The 29,500 tons of recyclables collected in 2016 were sorted by material in Minneapolis and sold to make new products. Customers should remember that many items – such as plastic bags and clothing – that cannot be placed in their recycling carts can still be recycled through drop-off sites. Check the City’s “what to do” list if you don’t know how to dispose of something.

By the end of 2016, 40 percent of eligible customers had signed up for the organics recycling program, which finished rolling out citywide in June. Throughout the year participating residents diverted more than 3,300 tons of compostable materials including food scraps, food-soiled paper items including paper towels, napkins, pizza boxes and egg cartons and other compostable items.

Customers who have not yet signed up may do so by visiting www.minneapolismn.gov/organics or by calling 311. There’s no extra cost to have organics picked up every week. By participating in organics recycling, customers may be able to reduce the number or size of their garbage cart(s) which saves money on their City of Minneapolis utility bills.

For more information about recycling in Minneapolis, visit www.minneapolismn.gov/recycling.

Organics Recycling Training Session: October 13

Come to a training session on Thursday, October 13, 6 - 8 p.m. at Windom Park, 2251 Hayes Street NE to get your organics recycling questions answered with hands-on learning, demonstrations and tips that make organics recycling easier in your home. Learn what happens to organics once they are collected. Pick up a yard sign to promote the organics recycling program. Organics collection containers will be distributed to attendees while supplies last. 

Contact Laura Horner at 612-673-3318 or laura.horner@minneapolismn.gov with questions. Click HERE to RSVP.

Organics Recycling Training Sessions

Do you like the idea of organics recycling but you don’t know how to do it? The City is offering two organics recycling training sessions in the fall. Get your questions answered with hands-on learning, demonstrations and tips that make organics recycling easy in your home. Learn what happens to organics once they are collected. Pick up a yard sign to promote the organics recycling program on your block. Hear about the City’s new Recycling Block Leader program and how you can sign up to be the leader on your block.

Come to either session:

6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27
Longfellow Recreation Center, 3435 36th Ave. S.

6-8p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13
Windom Northeast Recreation Center, 2251 Hayes St. NE

RSVPs are encouraged.

Order a Compost Bin or Rain Barrel

Get a jump-start on gardening by ordering a $59 compost bin or a $74 rain barrel for your home. (These regularly cost $105 and $139.)

By using a compost bin, you can keep more than a quarter of your household waste out of the garbage while making valuable compost for your garden.

A rain barrel will help you save water and money by using rainwater rather than the faucet for your garden and trees. Rain barrels are also a way of trapping the stormwater that runs toward the storm drains – picking up pollutants along the way – and into our lakes, streams and rivers.

Order now and you’ll be able to pick up your compost bin or rain barrel at 3607 E. 44th St. in Minneapolis Saturday, April 30. To place your order, find more information or see other dates and locations, go to www.recycleminnesota.org.

Zero Waste Forum Recap: Recycling as An Economic Development Tool

 (Above: CM Reich, panelists & forum attendees at Northeast Library).

Last month Council Member Reich and Eureka Recycling co-hosted a forum that gathered panelists from a variety of disciplines to talk about how recycling can function as a job creator and economic development tool. The forum brought together a diverse group of organizations to share their unique viewpoints on the topic.

Panelists included representatives from: the University of Minnesota's Northstar Initiative for Sustainable Enterprise; Eastside Food Co-op; Momentum; Second Chance Recycling; and Better Futures Enterprises. Each panelist offered a unique glimpse into a specific aspect of the larger picture of our waste stream and the imaginative reuses that have been and continue to be developed to reduce it. They also talked about the social, economic and environmental costs of waste and opportunities for economic benefit from recycling.

Click HERE for a brief recap of the discussion.

Council Member's Message

2015 was an eventful year for the City of Minneapolis on a number of fronts and I am pleased that some of the initiatives and improvements launched over the course of the past year will have positive impacts on our community and our environment far into the the future:

• Organics recycling was launched in August of 2015 and will be expanded citywide in 2016. This initiative, combined with the one sort recycling that was rolled out 2012/13, represents a significant step in moving closer to the City's Zero Waste goals.
  
• The Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership Board, of which I am a member, completed its first year of work toward helping Minneapolis achieve its clean energy goals.
• In September the Council approved the Percent-for-Art Ordinance that I authored with CM Glidden to dedicate 1.5% of City-issued net debt bonds annually to public art funding. This ordinance will ensure stable and predictable funding for public art and reinforces our commitment to the creative vitality artists generate in the First Ward and our City as a whole. Click HERE to read more about the ordinance.
• The City's Regulatory Services department rolled out a tiered rental license system that is designed to align costs and inspections to bring more resources to bear on problem rental properties.

2015 was an especially productive year for the First Ward. Many items that have been top priorities for me and for our community came to fruition in a big way, including the sale of the Hollywood Theater and the return of a ladder truck to Station 15. Read about some of the highlights below; we have much to celebrate!

Organics Recycling Goes Citywide

The City of Minneapolis’ organics recycling program is about to go citywide. Right now, the City collects food scraps, coffee grounds, meat trimmings, eggshells and many other items from about 12,000 residences for composting. Starting this spring, the rest of the city will be able to recycle organics too. Residents living in the second phase areas of this program will need to sign up by Feb. 1 to get their recycling carts during the spring rollout.

The City already has more than 19,000 organics carts to deliver for the next phase of organics recycling and will put together a residential delivery list this winter. To get on that list, residents must sign up by Feb. 1. Those who sign up after that date will get their carts in the summer. (Residents in the first phase rollout area who aren’t already in the organics recycling program can sign up now to receive a cart within a couple weeks.)

About 34,000 households have signed up to participate in the organics recycling program. To be part of the program, call 612-673-2917 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, or email SWRcustomer@minneapolismn.gov. There is no additional cost to participate.

Organics recycling includes:

• All food scraps including fruits, vegetables, bones, meat, breads, pasta, nut shells, eggshells and dairy products.
  
• Non-recyclable and food-soiled paper products including paper towels, napkins, facial tissues, waxed paper, egg cartons and pizza boxes.
  
• Certified compostable paper cups, plates, bowls, utensils, bags and takeout containers.
  
• Other compostable items including coffee grounds; tea bags; wood chopsticks, Popsicle sticks and toothpicks; hair; and houseplant trimmings.

Do not include: yard waste, pet waste litter or bedding, milk cartons, ice cream tubs, Chinese food containers, dryer lint, dryer sheets, diapers and sanitary products, cleaning and baby wipes, grease, oil, Styrofoam, foil-lined products, non-certified compostable bags and food service items, or products labeled “biodegradable.”

Find more information at www.minneapolismn.gov/organics.

Organics Recycling Comes to the Eastside

The City of Minneapolis Public Works Department, in partnership with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Audubon Neighborhood Association and Southeast Como Improvement Association, has opened residential organics drop-off locations at Audubon Park, 1320 29th Ave NE, and Van Cleve Park, 901 15th Ave SE.

Residential organics include all food waste, food-soiled and non-recyclable paper, and other compostable materials such as coffee grounds, filters, cotton swabs, dryer lint and popsicle sticks. Yard waste and pet waste are not accepted. Residents must drop off their organic materials in a compostable bag (either paper or certified compostable plastic). Larger items such as pizza boxes and wax-coated boxes do not need to be bagged.

The drop-offs will be open to all Minneapolis residents at no cost. For the first two months, the drop-offs will be open Tuesdays, 4 – 7 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. During these first two months, volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and gather some participant information from residents. Some information gathered will include the participant’s neighborhood, the number of dwelling units in the home of the participant, if he/she rents or owns their home, etc. Following the volunteer-staffed time period, participants will be given the code to the locks on the organics carts to use the drop-off at their own convenience.

The purpose of these organics drop-offs is to engage and educate as many residents as possible on what organics recycling is and how to participate prior to implementing a city-wide program. Information gathered from the drop-offs will be used to develop an effective educational plan for the implementation of a city-wide organics program. Information about the drop-offs can be found on Solid Waste & Recycling’s organics recycling webpage: www.minneapolismn.gov/organics.