Hennepin County wants cities to start curbside organics recycling, and it\u2019s planning to pay more to those that do next year. It\u2019s part of a shift in recycling across the country to focus more on organics, or food waste. Hennepin County\u2019s own move toward organics is part of a gradual increase in funding that the county envisions, aiming for half of recycling dollars to go toward it by 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sets the tone,\u201d said Ben Knudson, a Hennepin County recycling specialist. \u201cIt will get the attention of cities.\u201d The state allocates recycling money to counties for distribution to cities, which can use the money to provide discounts to residents, buy compostable bags or other items or to help pay for city contracts. This year, $3.2 million of the county\u2019s $3.5 million in recycling funds went toward cities\u2019 recycling programs, while $300,000 went toward organics recycling.<\/p>\n
If the County Board gives final approval to the funding policy change on Tuesday, next year\u2019s amount dedicated to organics programs will leap to $720,000 \u2014 a fifth of the $3.7 million the county will allocate to cities.<\/p>\n
The county plans to gradually increase that amount each year until 2020, when up to 50 percent of the total funding will go to organics. \u201c[It\u2019s] the new era in household waste management,\u201d Commissioner Mike Opat said at the Nov. 22 County Board committee meeting. \u201cWe went to \u2018throw it all in the garbage can\u2019 to various styles of recycling. And now we\u2019re going to move into organics. It\u2019s a big step.\u201d<\/p>\n
A report released Nov. 15 by Hennepin County showed that food waste is the top item residents are throwing away that could be recycled. In that report,\u00a0the results of sorting trash from three Minneapolis neighborhoods last summer, 25 \u2009percent of trash is food waste that could have gone to organics recycling. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of organics in the trash, yet not a lot of people have the opportunity to participate in organics,\u201d Knudson said.<\/p>\n
In 2015, cities across the county collected 98,000 tons of recyclable materials and 1,400 tons of organics from 352,000 households. This year, Minneapolis has\u00a0ramped up awareness to boost the number of people participating in its curbside organics recycling, which kicked off in a limited way in 2015 and expanded citywide this year. So far, more than 42,500 Minneapolis households have signed up for the program.<\/p>\n
Just 12 of 44 cities in Hennepin County have organics programs. Other cities have been slow to start curbside organics recycling programs because of the costs or uncertainty about the best collection methods, Knudson said. He said the county\u2019s funding distribution program can get cities to take a closer look at organics recycling, though there\u2019s no mandate to require they start programs.<\/p>\n