The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced a new 20-year plan aimed at limiting waste production in the Twin Cities.
This is the next step in MPCA's plan to address local issues. Waste problem: The amount of waste is predicted to continue to increase, and recycling rates are stagnant.
The plan sets a goal of reducing waste generation by 15% from the agency's current projections. If this goal is met, the region will produce approximately the same amount of waste in 20 years as it does today.
“This is an ambitious goal, but one that can be achieved by working with recycling organizations in the Capital Region and other parts of the state,” said Kirk Koudelka, who works on waste strategy at the MPCA.
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MPCA Deputy Director Kirk Koudelka spoke to reporters Tuesday at Repowered, an electronics recycling warehouse in St. Paul.
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The new plan will carry over seven counties in the Twin Cities metropolitan area: Anoka, Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington, Scott, Dakota and Carver. County governments are responsible for developing their own plans that align with state goals.
The plan outlines various policies for the county to implement, some mandatory and some optional.
Some of these policies focus on reducing waste from major producers. Counties will be required to work with organizations that generate large amounts of food waste, such as restaurants, hospitals and grocery stores, to reduce the amount of food waste.
The plan also requires cities with populations of 5,000 or more to start curbside compost collection programs by 2030. The county should also add support for multifamily recycling and composting infrastructure.
There are also requests from individual residents. For composting and recycling to work, people need to know about the program. The plan calls for national education on waste reduction and asks people to consider reducing their consumption. They suggest buying second-hand items, repairing broken items instead of replacing them, and sticking to reusable utensils and bags.
MPCA announced the plan at a press conference at Repowered, an electronics recycling warehouse in St. Paul. Koudelka said part of the plan will focus on investing resources in organizations like Repowered, which recycle and resell goods.
Chris Olson is Repowered's Repair and Reuse Manager. He said such organizations have an important role to play, but they are not without challenges. At Repowered, sometimes we have to throw away something because there's no demand for it or it's too complicated to bring to market.
Olson believes the new plan is a good step toward bringing stakeholders together to find solutions.
“I'm excited about the plan they put out,” Olson said. “If you can communicate well and explain your frustrations, you might find a good idea.”
Koudelka said the MPCA will work with each county over the next nine months to help develop individual plans.
