Minnesota county plans to increase organics recycling funding

Hennepin County, Minnesota, is planning to spend half of its recycling funding toward curbside organics recycling by 2020, a report by the Star Tribune says. The state hands out the funds to counties for city distribution, which can use the money for residential discounts, buying compostable bags or to help pay for city contracts.

This year, $3.2 million out of the county’s $3.5 million funds went toward the cities’ recycling programs while $300,000 went toward organics recycling, the report says. If approved by the county board, next year’s amount will increase to $720,000 and will gradually increase until 50 percent of the total funding goes to organics in 2020.

Twelve of the 44 cities in Hennepin County currently have organics programs, the report says. In 2015, 98,000 tons of recyclables materials and 1,400 tons of organics were collected from 352,000 households. A report released by the county said that 25 percent of waste collected from Minneapolis neighborhoods was organic waste that could have been recycled.