Minneapolis Seeks to Recycle, Compost 80% of Waste

City officials in Minneapolis are hoping that over the next decade, residents and businesses will recycle or compost 80 percent of their waste.

Over the next three years, the city will collect data to determine how to improve citywide waste disposal. During that time, officials will study how residents sort their garbage, going through trash, recycling and organics carts in a sample of households to see whether items end up in the right place.

In addition, next year the city’s public works department will study whether it should add more organics drop-off sites across the city. The department is also considering whether new apartment buildings should be required to have organics recycling options and if other buildings should add them based on residential requests.

Star Tribune has more:

In the next decade, Minneapolis wants its residents and businesses to recycle or compost 80% of its waste. That means getting people to send more food scraps, paper towels and other compostable waste into the organics bin, not the regular trash, according to the city.

Presenting to the City Council’s public works committee Tuesday, staff members leading the city’s trash and recycling efforts laid out their plans for the next three years to reach the city’s waste-reduction goal. That will include going through some garbage to see whether people are sorting it right.

Organic materials make up about 40% of the waste generated by the average Minnesotan, said Kellie Kish, the city’s recycling coordinator. Minneapolis already offers curbside organics recycling, though few apartment buildings and businesses are signed up to use it.

Read the full article here.