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1 <br />ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD <br />AGENDA ITEM 7B <br /> <br />STAFF ORIGINATOR: Andy Nelson <br /> <br />MEETING DATE: June 28th, 2023 <br /> <br />REQUEST: Discussion Only <br /> <br />TOPIC: Residential Recycling Service Frequency <br /> <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />Currently City Code requires solid waste haulers to provide residents with the opportunity to <br />recycle through at least biweekly curbside collection of targeted recyclables. <br /> <br />The Environmental Board introduced the idea that it may be beneficial to amend the ordinance to <br />require weekl y residential recycling. Weekly pickups may lead to less recycling being placed in <br />trash containers due to missed pickup dates. Also, residents may be less likely to exceed the <br />capacity of their recycling containers. Overall, more frequent pickups may lead to increased <br />tonnage of recyclables diverted from the solid waste stream, while helping the city to achieve <br />annual tonnage goals set by the County. <br /> <br />The Environmental Board requested that staff provide more information on this topic at a future <br />meeting. <br /> <br />The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released a Draft Metropolitan Solid Waste <br />Management Policy Plan for 2022-2042 in June of 2023. This policy plan sets goals and policy <br />for the metropolitan solid waste system. There are requirements and optional strategies outlined <br />in the plan that will ultimately be implemented by counties and cities. <br /> <br />Weekly recycling collection is currently listed as one of the requirements listed in the draft plan <br />to be implemented by 2025. <br /> <br />It would seem most efficient to wait for the release of the final Metropolitan Solid Waste <br />Management Policy Plan and county guidance to ensure that the city adjusts to all requirements <br />at once and synchronized with the rest of the metro. These changes may have a number of <br />negative impacts, including: additional wear on roads, increased cost to residents, and increased <br />vehicle emissions. The changes will also provide some major challenges to haulers including the <br />need for more trucks and workers. Giving haulers time to adapt their operations will benefit <br />everyone. <br /> <br />In the meantime, residents have options for increasing capacity of recycling containers through <br />their individual haulers. Most, if not all haulers operating in the city also offer additional bins <br />for little to no cost.