WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 22, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The City Council approved goals calling for Minneapolis to recycle and compost 50 percent of its citywide waste by 2020, and 80 percent by 2030. The adopted resolution will help the City meet new recycling goals set by the State and Hennepin County in 2014.
The goals also call for the City to achieve a zero-percent growth rate in its total waste stream from levels set in 2010. Reducing waste levels is an important step toward making Minneapolis a zero-waste city. Along with producing less waste, the zero-waste philosophy focuses on turning all discarded materials into resources for other uses through processes like recycling and composting.
Minneapolis has already made great strides in reducing its waste. Since citywide one-sort recycling began, the overall residential recycling rate has climbed from 18 percent in 2011 to 25 percent in 2014. With the addition of yard waste and pilot program organics, the City recycled or composted 31.4 percent of the total residential waste generated. A City-wide residential organics program will begin implementation in 2015, with the first phase of collection beginning in September.
The new comprehensive composting and recycling goals clarify targets set in the City’s Climate Action Plan, which was adopted by the City Council in 2013. Setting goals is a part of the zero-waste planning work that Hodges announced in her State of the City address last April.
The City will now develop a zero-waste plan for City Council consideration in spring 2016. Staff will also work with the mayor’s office, council offices and the Minneapolis Community Environmental Advisory Commission to organize stakeholder meetings to address waste prevention, recycling and composting.
