45,000 Households Enrolled In Minneapolis Organics Program

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Minneapolis recycling officials announced this week that over 45,000 households, or 42.56 percent of Solid Waste and Recycling customers, have signed up to participate in the organics program since it officially began one year ago.

In its first year full year, participating residents diverted just under 4,000 tons of organics from the trash for composting – that’s 175 pounds of organics per household, according to city officials.

Less than one percent of what residents are placing in carts is not acceptable material. In March and June, Solid Waste & Recycling staff along with several fantastic volunteers, sorted four loads of organics to evaluate what type of contamination is found and how much contamination was present.

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The most common contaminants found during the sorts were plastic-lined paper products. These items include decorative paper plates, boxes from frozen pizza and other frozen foods, take and bake pizza trays, paper ice cream tubs, milk cartons, non-compostable to-go containers and coffee cups, Chinese take-out boxes, butcher paper, and butter wraps, according to a news release.

"Our office would like to thank all residents participating in organics for diverting food scraps, non-recyclable paper, and other compostable items from the trash," David Herberholz, the director of Minneapolis Solid Waste and Recycling, said in a statement. "Your efforts allow organic material to be put to a better use through composting. "

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