Organics recycling
Last year, Minnetonka received a Waste Abatement Incentive Grant from Hennepin County to encourage residential refuse haulers to offer organics collection to their customers.
Since the program was announced, hundreds of families have signed up for weekly collection of organics, diverting many tons of organic materials. Organics make up about 25 percent of the residential waste stream. Collecting this material for composting keeps it from being incinerated or dumped into landfills. It is a valuable resource used in landscaping and road construction projects.
Organics collection includes the following materials: food scraps (fruits and vegetables, meat, fish and bones, bread, pasta and baked goods, egg shells, dairy products and coffee grounds), food-soiled paper products (paper towels and napkins, paper plates and cups, milk and juice cartons, pizza boxes, egg cartons, packaging from frozen and refrigerated foods, waxed paper and paper containers, coffee filter and tea bags), and other compostable items (full vacuum cleaner bags, dryer lint, tissue and cotton balls, floral trimmings and house plants).
There is an additional fee for the weekly organics collection. However, with weekly organics collection, many homes will be able to reduce their garbage collection to the smallest container the company offers. For further savings, some haulers offer every-other-week collection of the garbage!
If you are interested in beginning organics collection, call one of the following refuse haulers:
- Randy’s Sanitation and Recycling
- 763.972.3335
- Vintage Waste Systems, Inc.
- 952.472.0401
For general information on organics recycling, contact Dean Elstad, Minnetonka recycling coordinator, at 952.988.8430 or via email at delstad@eminnetonka.com.
