Hennepin County, Minn., Mandates Businesses Recycle Organic Waste

One county in Minnesota is set to become the first in the state to mandate businesses to recycle their organic waste.

The Hennepin County Board is expected to approve an ordinance at the end of the year requiring businesses, including restaurants and hospitals, to compost by 2020. It will also require cities to offer curbside organic recycling for residents by 2022.

Over the summer, Hennepin County announced it was looking to find a unit that could process at least 25,000 tons of organic waste through anaerobic digestion. The county set goals to recycle 75 percent of its waste by 2030.

The Star Tribune has more details:

Hennepin County is set to become the first county in the state to require businesses to recycle organic waste.

By the end of the year, the County Board is expected to approve an ordinance that will require businesses ranging from restaurants to hospitals to compost by 2020. It also will require cities with more than 10,000 residents to offer curbside organic recycling by 2022.

The new ordinance was triggered by a state mandate that counties recycle 75 percent of their waste by 2030.

Read the full article here.