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<br />Staff evaluated four potential locations for an organics enclosure. Selection criteria <br />included: year-round accessibility to residents and trash haulers, proximity to the site <br />with the heaviest use, being visible enough to prevent contamination issues, and being far <br />enough from other uses to minimize complaints. City land that meets these criteria is <br />park land. <br /> <br />Organics recycling is an important alternative to landfilling compostable items such as <br />food scraps. Organic matter decomposing in landfills is a leading source of methane <br />emissions, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. When <br />composted, this same material becomes nutrient-rich compost that can be added to soil, <br />improving water retention of soil, reducing flooding and runoff potential, sequestering <br />carbon, and improving water quality by minimizing the need for fertilizer. <br /> <br />Approximately 25-35% of the material that we throw away (including both trash and <br />recyclables) is compostable. In 2022, Lino Lakes residents diverted 47 tons of organic <br />material from landfills, which is about 2.5% of the 1,919 tons of material recycled in the <br />City. In order to achieve the tonnage goals established by Anoka County, the City will <br />need to increase tonnage of recycled material by over 400 tons per year. Put simply, the <br />organics program has the greatest potential for growth of all of the other recycling <br />programs in the City combined. <br /> <br />The organics program in Lino Lakes has been growing rapidly, and has 478 participating <br />households as of February 28st, 2023, which is 6.8% of the households in Lino Lakes. <br />Participants currently drop their organics materials at four sites in the City. Each site has <br />90-gallon organics carts to accept the material. As use of these sites increases, more carts <br />are added to accommodate the increased use. Eventually, the carts must be replaced with <br />roll-off dumpsters in enclosures in order to keep the sites tidy while accommodating the <br />increased use. The heaviest use area for the organics program is the City’s west side near <br />Marshan Park. Including an organics enclosure on the west side of the City will maintain <br />convenience for program participants, while helping to achieve the City’s solid waste <br />diversion goals. <br /> <br /> <br />Requested Council Direction <br /> <br />Staff is requesting City Council direction to approve a location for an organics enclosure <br />and move forward with construction in spring of 2023. <br /> <br />Attachments <br /> <br />1. Photo of example enclosure <br />2. Sunrise Park aerial photo <br />3. Marshan Park aerial photo <br />4. Lino Park aerial photo <br />5. City Hall Park aerial photo <br />