Organics Recycling Update; Stadler
CITY OF HOPKINS
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
Mike Mornson, City Manager
From: Pam Hove, Solid Waste Coordinator
Date: July 13, 2021
Subject: Organics Recycling Update
_____________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE
Staff would like to update Council on the status of the upcoming Hennepin County
mandated residential curbside organics recycling program.
INFORMATION
Staff have met with Hennepin County and Republic Services staff to discuss the
January 1, 2022 deadline to make available residential curbside organics recycling, and
what approaches to meeting that mandate are viable to Hopkins.
Hennepin County Ordinance 13 reads:
“Subsection 2: Organic material collection requirements
A. Curbside collection of organic material
By January 1, 2022, Cities shall provide the opportunity to participate in Curbside
Collection of Organic Material to residential households that are single family
through fourplex and other residential households where each household has its
own Collection Container for Mixed Recyclables. Curbside Collection of Organic
Material must be provided year round on a weekly basis. A City may adjust
Collection Service frequency with prior approval by the Department.
Cities shall make Curbside Collection of Organic Material available by contracting
for citywide service or by requiring Haulers to provide the service. If a City does not
provide Curbside Collection of Organic Material by contracting for citywide service,
the City shall require Haulers to provide it. Haulers shall provide Curbside
Collection of Organic Material upon request to households that have Curbside
Collection for Mixed Recyclables.”
Hopkins is unique since we provide in-house waste services for all single family, duplex,
triplex and fourplex residential properties. Minneapolis is the only other city in
Hennepin County that operates in this manner. This unique position leaves Hopkins
with two options to comply with Hennepin County Ordinance 13:
Public Works
1) We, as the hauler, provide the opportunity for residential curbside organics
recycling collection by driving co-mingled MSW and Blue Bag loads to the
Randy’s transfer station in Delano, a 25-mile one-way trip. The current drive
to the Brooklyn Park Transfer Station is 15 miles one-way. The Delano
transfer station is located outside Hennepin County, in Wright County. Waste
haulers in Hennepin County are bound by certain conditions in which waste is
handled. By currently taking our waste to the Brooklyn Park Transfer Station,
all Hopkins waste is incinerated. Hennepin County’s response to the
scenario of Hopkins delivering waste to Randy’s transfer station in Delano is
this:
“It is the county’s expectation that cities manage waste according to the
preferred practices established in state law. Resource recovery through
incineration is preferred over land disposal (115A.02, 473.848). If a public
entity chooses to manage MMSW through land disposal rather than
resource recovery, that public entity must determine the potential liability
of doing so, develop and implement a plan to manage the potential
liability, and submit the information to the PCA (115A.471).”
2) Amend our contract with Republic to include the provision of residential
curbside organics recycling service to our customers. Most communities in
Hennepin County are allocating the expense of this opportunity for service by
universally applying a base fee to all service addresses. This is the same
approach as, and similar price point to, the current recycling fee of $5.00 per
dwelling unit per month. Whether residents choose to use it or not, everyone
is required to have it and are billed as such. There may be an additional
subscription fee applied to those addresses who chose to receive a cart and
participate in residential curbside organics recycling. Staff are considering
incentives such as every-other-week refuse service at a discounted rate for
those who have a 35-gallon garbage cart and sign up for curbside organics
service. St. Louis Park has been offering this option for a number of years
and it could be a valuable incentive to get resident participation in organics.
Staff have asked Hennepin County, if given our unique position as the waste hauler, an
extension to the January 1, 2022 deadline would be considered. This is their response:
“We cannot grant extensions to the requirements in Ordinance 13, including the
January 1, 2022, requirement for cities. That date stands as is.”
FUTURE ACTION
Staff recommends moving forward in negotiating terms of an amendment to the City’s
contract with Republic Services, to include residential curbside organics recycling
service. Staff will present an implementation plan to Council at the September 14, 2021
work session.