NW Suburbs Consider Single Organics Hauler After Confusing Rollout
Many Hennepin County residents saw their recycling costs go up recently as waste haulers rolled out organics recycling programs.
The county mandated that all cities offer organic recycling — which diverts organic materials like food scraps and paper products away from landfills — in a curbside format by 2022.
Recycled organics are turned into compost.
Reducing waste has been a high priority for the county.
“We need to meet this state goal, and 75 percent of what is generated as waste needs to be diverted for recycling or composting,” said Carolyn Collopy, Hennepin County waste reduction manager in a February 2024 interview with CCX. “That’s a very aggressive goal.”
The rollout for organics recycling has in some cases been complicated or expensive.
Complicated Organics Rollout
Some cities — such as Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, New Hope and Crystal — have multiple waste haulers serving the city rather than a single entity.
As a result, each hauler sets their own rates for organics hauling. In Brooklyn Park, those rates can vary from $3 to $7.50 per month.
Brooklyn Center, New Hope and Crystal share a recycling contract under a joint powers agreement known as the Hennepin Recycling Group. It’s overseen by Tim Pratt, who is also Brooklyn Park’s recycling manager.
He told the Brooklyn Park City Council that some haulers may not be transparent about their organics billing.
“Hopefully it’s a line item on your garbage bills so that you see it as a separate charge,” Pratt said. “But, again, we as a city are not allowed to regulate the billing practices of garbage haulers.”
Moreover, due to state law, everyone in the county is being charged for organics recycling, even if they don’t use the service.
This has led to frustrations from some residents.
During a March 2024 city council meeting, Maple Grove Mayor Mark Steffenson said the most common comments he’s heard are “why do we have this charge, I can’t afford this charge, why are we having to pay this when I can’t afford other things?”
A tractor moves organic recycling bags at the Hennepin County Transfer Center in Brooklyn Park. Several cities in the northwest suburbs are considering hiring a single organics recycling hauler to service a four-city area.
Single Organics Hauler Program
Brooklyn Park, as well as Brooklyn Center, New Hope and Crystal, are considering a move to a single organics hauler that would offer city-wide service.
While nothing has been finalized, Waste Management has expressed interest in a contract that would cover all four cities.
“Our current recycling hauler, Waste Management has offered to expand our contract to provide organics recycling service at $2.90 a month,” Pratt said. “That’s less than the range that we have currently.”
If plans move ahead, the single-hauler contract could go into effect in spring of next year.
