Solid waste planning

Hennepin County has a goal of diverting 90% or more of waste from landfills or incinerators

The county's solid waste management plan outlines our strategies for meeting these goals. The annual recycling progress report provides updates on our efforts and highlights our commitment to making progress toward our goals.

In addition, the county establishes ordinances that govern solid waste management and conducts research to support solid waste planning initiatives.

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Reinventing the solid waste system to repurpose the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center

Reinventing the solid waste system

The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners heard a board briefing and discussion on Thursday, January 25 on a plan to reinvent the county’s solid waste system. This briefing responds to the resolution passed on October 24, 2023, to develop a closure plan for the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC).

Hennepin County plans to aggressively pursue zero-waste policies, programming, and infrastructure and advocate for policy changes at the state level to move toward zero waste and make meaningful progress toward reducing climate emissions.

The briefing laid out the 12 highest priority zero-waste actions. These include:

Passing an extended producer responsibility law at the state legislature to require producers of packaging to take responsibility for that packaging all the way from design to recycling or safe disposal.
Securing adequate funding for zero-waste initiatives by using all revenue from the state’s solid waste management tax on waste management activities.
Banning recyclable materials, such as cardboard or mattresses, and organic materials like food scraps from landfills.
Recovering recyclable and organic materials from the trash by developing a recycling recovery facility, which would use a variety of technologies to sort cardboard, metal, some plastics, and organics materials from the trash for reuse or recycling.

A zero-waste dashboard was introduced at the briefing to define the criteria to be met to responsibly close HERC and to identify 22 policies that need to be accomplished by the state legislature to realize this zero-waste future. The four metrics – recycling rate, percent of food and other biogenic materials in the trash, waste generated per capita, and landfill rates – will be tracked and reported on annually.

See the following materials developed in response to the board resolution:

A plan to reinvent the solid waste system report (PDF)
Reinventing the solid waste system presentation (PDF)
HERC response from cities (PDF), including summary and individual letters received
Legislative zero-waste priorities (PDF)
Memo on the county’s efforts in renewable energy (PDF)

HERC closure plan resolution

The board resolution passed on October 24, 2023 directed staff to develop a closure plan for the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) between 2028 to 2040. The resolution included 5 key actions:

Propose legislative priorities and platform items by December 1, 2023
Engage city elected officials and gather input, with comments due January 15, 2024
Engage a consultant to assess viability of the county investing in renewable energy sources by February 1, 2024
Develop a HERC closure plan between 2028 and 2040 and submit to the board by February 1, 2024
Prepare contingency plans in the event of a sooner closure date

The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center and its role in the solid waste system report

A report was prepared for the county board to provide information and context related to decision-making for the 2024 Solid Waste Management Plan, the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC), community concerns, and a provision in the state legislature’s 2023 infrastructure bill that the county must submit a plan for the cessation of operations at HERC to access the $26 million appropriated for the construction of an anaerobic digester.

Read the report: The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center and its role in the solid waste system (PDF)

Zero Waste Plan

Hennepin County's Zero Waste Plan

View the Hennepin County Zero Waste Plan (PDF).

Hennepin County is committed to achieving a zero-waste future where all materials are designed to become resources for others to use, the volume and toxicity of waste and materials is systematically eliminated, and all resources are conserved and recovered and not burned or buried.

The county has defined zero waste as preventing 90% or more of all discarded materials from being landfilled or incinerated. The actions in the Hennepin County Zero Waste Plan are designed to collectively move the county as close as possible to the goal of zero waste.

Developing the Zero Waste Plan

In August 2021, the county board passed a resolution directing staff to develop an operational plan to map Hennepin County to a zero-waste future that includes a broad community engagement process with a strong focus on equity and disparity reduction.

The 1.5 year long process to develop the plan resulted in 62 actions to advance a zero-waste future. The actions were developed with extensive public feedback from more than 1,800 participants.

The engagement process included more than 500 conversations with community members, collaboration with 18 community groups, 10 meetings with industry stakeholders with a total of 170 participants, and surveys, stories and ideas shared by 457 site visitors on Be Heard Hennepin.

The project team collaborated with county staff, stakeholders, and community members to identify and refine programs, actions, and solutions for inclusion in the Zero Waste Plan. Nearly 150 participants formed action planning work groups where, through four virtual meetings, they learned about community and system needs, heard findings from research, and explored and amended the zero-waste actions.

The plan was then drafted and released to the public for comment. In total, 69 participants attended an online community meeting, 333 people completed an online survey, and 8 letters or emails and 111 action alert forms were received. Feedback was received from residents and representatives of 24 cities in Hennepin County, advocacy groups, businesses,
and state agencies.

Final feedback was considered, changes were made to the plan, and the plan was finalized in June 2023.

Next steps

The county’s waste reduction and recycling staff are now shifting to implementation of the plan’s actions. The county is also preparing to develop the next solid waste management plan.

The Zero Waste Plan will serve as the foundation of the county’s solid waste management plan, which will be considered for board approval in 2024.

Annual recycling progress report

2024 recycling progress report

Hennepin County’s 2024 Recycling Progress Report (PDF) provides an update on the county’s progress toward waste diversion goals, implementation of the Solid Waste Management Plan, and results from waste reduction and recycling programs.

Hennepin County has established a zero-waste goal of diverting 90% or more of waste from landfills and incinerators and tracks progress on key metrics through the zero-waste dashboard. Although we’ve made incremental progress, significant changes in waste management systems and individual behaviors are needed to meet that goal.

In 2024, Hennepin County finalized its Plan to Reinvent the Solid Waste System and the state-required 2024-2029 Solid Waste Management Plan. The county continued to support zero-waste policies, and the state legislature passed a producer responsibility law for packaging and paper products.

Hennepin County increased its budget and staffing levels for zero-waste initiatives. Highlights include new grant programs for food rescue and community-led projects, campaigns to reduce food waste and inspire participation in recycling, and a neighborhood fix-it hub pilot.

Waste management in Hennepin County

Total waste generation in 2024 was almost the same as 2023. Not seeing an increase in waste generation during strong economic performance and robust job growth is encouraging. However, the county’s recycling rate decreased by 1% to 42%. This change was caused by a substantial decrease in yard waste and a notable decrease in the amount of food donation reported.

The overall decrease in organics recycling obscures a positive trend: an increase in commercial organics recycling. Organics delivered to composting sites increased by 30%. Businesses drove this increase by diverting more food waste from the trash. This trend indicates the success of an approach that includes outreach, compliance with requirements, incentives, and support for implementation.

2024 highlights and major accomplishments

Completed solid waste planning and established priorities

Finalized a plan to reinvent Hennepin County’s solid waste system and adopted the county’s 2024-2029 Solid Waste Management Plan. This process identified the 12 highest priority zero-waste actions and responded to the requirements in the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Metro Policy Plan.

Made significant progress on zero-waste policy

The passage of the state’s Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act will create an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for packaging and paper products statewide. The law will incentivize more sustainable design and hold producers responsible for reducing the environmental impacts of the items they produce and managing them throughout the entire lifecycle.

Launched campaigns to raise awareness about high-priority zero-waste topics

The Trash or Cash campaign offers residents practical tips to reduce wasted food by using a retro gameshow theme and advice from local chefs across various media to creatively highlight the financial and environmental costs of food waste. The Recycling Exists campaign aims to dispel myths about recycling in Minnesota and increase public confidence in the recycling system.

Expanded the county’s waste reduction and recycling team

Added staff who will focus on reducing single-use plastics and plastic packaging, expanding collection and drop-off options for hard-to-recycle items, increasing compliance with the county’s recycling and food waste recycling requirements, and expanding capacity in the construction and demolition waste and school waste reduction and recycling programs.

Made grant funding available for food rescue and community-based initiatives

Food rescue grants support the recovery and redistribution of surplus food from grocery stores and other donors to people in need. Community zero-waste grants support a variety of activities, including community-led swaps, repair clinics, special material collections, and recycling or organics recycling drop-off sites.

Piloted a neighborhood fix-it hub

This new effort establishes smaller-scale, locally led repair hubs at regular locations to bring the joy and impact of the popular Fix-It Clinics to the community. The pilot location is at the St. Anthony Library and is held the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

Provided guidance on building material reuse on commercial projects

Collaborated with the University of Minnesota and other partners to create a project manager’s guide for owners, architects, and contractors to help them build with reclaimed materials on a commercial scale. The guide contains specification language, procurement guidance, and case studies of successful reuse projects around the country.

Provided drop-offs for safe disposal and recycling

Served over 143,000 households at drop-off facilities and collection events to ensure safe disposal and recycling of materials like appliances, batteries, cleaners, electronics, mercury-containing items, paints, pesticides, and more.

Solid waste management plan

About the plan

Hennepin County, like all metro area counties, must submit a county-specific plan to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) that implements the Metro Solid Waste Policy Plan goals to reduce waste, increase recycling, and abate landfilling. The Hennepin County Solid Waste Management Plan complies with statutory mandates and covers solid waste planning for the period of 2024-2029.

See the Hennepin County Solid Waste Management Plan for 2024 - 2029 (PDF).

The county’s plan was adopted by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners and submitted to the MPCA on October 29, 2024.

Strategies included in the plan

The foundation of this plan is the county’s Zero Waste Plan, developed in 2023 to meet the county’s goal of diverting 90% or more of waste from landfills or incinerators. The county further prioritized the highest impact zero-waste actions in the Plan to Reinvent Hennepin County’s Solid Waste System to accelerate the closure and repurposing of the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC).

To facilitate public involvement in the development of the county solid waste plan, staff built from the broad base of learning from the development of the Zero Waste Plan, gathered further input on the implementation of prioritized zero-waste actions with cities and haulers, conducted a representative survey of county residents about their opinions on recycling programs and level of support for zero-waste actions, and leveraged existing outreach opportunities with partners, such as the Trusted Messengers participants.

A draft of the plan was made available for public comment between August 13 and September 4, 2024. The county received 86 comments from cities, environmental advocacy groups and residents.

Key findings from public feedback and a summary of changes made to the plan based on feedback is available at BeHeardHennepin.org/solid-waste-plan.

Supporting materials

The following supporting materials provide more context and in-depth information for the plan:

Wasted Food Prevention Plan

Wasted food prevention plan and target

Hennepin County’s Wasted Food Prevention Plan (PDF) establishes a target to cut the amount of edible food discarded in half and provides a roadmap to reach this target. The plan includes 44 strategies that will have an impact on reducing wasted food overall as well as in residential, commercial, schools, and food rescue sectors.

Preventing wasted food is a county priority. It’s a foundational strategy of the county’s Climate Action Plan, supports increased food security, which is a pillar of the county’s disparity reduction health domain, and is a top action to accelerate a zero-waste future and reinvent our solid waste system.

The plan is the first of its kind in the country because it focuses solely on preventing wasted food rather than relying on composting to divert food from the trash.

The problem with food waste

About 40% of food is wasted somewhere along the supply chain in the U.S. Wasted food has both upstream and downstream impacts, from the energy used to grow, transport, process, and refrigerate it to the methane generated when food waste is landfilled.

The amount of food, particularly edible food, that is wasted represents an opportunity to significantly reduce waste, better use resources, take action on climate change, and address food insecurity.

Research that informed plan development

Current food system analysis

A first step in developing the Wasted Food Prevention Plan was researching the current system to understand the flow of food and food waste in and out of the county, assess programs and policies related to reducing food waste, and examine what other communities are doing to set targets and reduce food waste.

See the current food system report (PDF).

Food rescue in Hennepin County

Hennepin County conducted research in 2022 to understand the food rescue system in the county. This research included interviews, focus groups, and surveys with organizations involved in the food rescue system and community members who have experienced food insecurity.

Goals were to identify gaps and opportunities to divert more food to people that would otherwise go to waste and increase the food rescue system’s responsiveness to community needs for both highly nutritious and culturally significant food.

Read the food rescue in Hennepin County report (PDF).

Residential food waste consumer behavior research

Hennepin County conducted a consumer behavior research study in 2021 to design and test optimal messaging strategies to help residents overcome barriers to preventing wasted food.

The study utilized focus groups in three distinct cohorts that intentionally received differing levels of communication throughout the study. The purpose was to assess whether varying levels of consumer engagement had an impact on projected behavior change.

Read the engaging residents to reduce food waste report (PDF).

Organics processing

To meet the county’s zero-waste and climate action goals, the county is focused on diverting food waste and other organic materials from the trash. To support the further expansion of organics recycling, the Zero Waste Plan includes an action for the county to develop and support waste infrastructure with its government partners and the solid waste industry.

Supporting large-scale organics processing infrastructure

As of December 2023, the county is no longer pursuing an anaerobic digestion facility. The county made this decision based on the following factors:

The capital and operating costs were well beyond an acceptable target price. Since the county began the purchasing process in 2018, many market conditions have shifted – inflation, supply chain disruptions, and labor costs – and made the project not financially viable.
The local landscape for organics processing has changed significantly. The region now has composting sites expanding their capacity and other public and private entities are developing anaerobic digestion facilities with greater capacity than what the county’s site could manage.

Pursuing infrastructure investments that are still needed to accelerate progress toward zero waste

The county is shifting focus to explore a recycling recovery facility to pull reusables, recyclables, and organics from the trash prior to disposal. This type of facility, when paired with existing recycling programs, has the greatest potential to increase recycling rates.

Increasing capacity of transfer stations to manage organics

The county will evaluate investments in transfer capacity that complement the needs of organics collection programs and organics processing facilities. This could include the expansion of transfer capacity, the ability to manage different streams of organics, or the use of technology to implement innovative new methods that increase organics diversion.

Supporting the growth of community-scale composting sites

The county will explore opportunities to support the development and growth of community-scale composting sites (less than 5,000 cubic yards per year). The county currently provides grant funding for organics drop-off sites. The county is also supporting backyard composting through financial, technical, and educational assistance.

Producer responsibility for packaging

Developing a producer responsibility policy for packaging

The Partnership on Waste and Energy, which is a collaborative effort of Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington counties, partnered with the Product Stewardship Institute to develop a producer responsibility bill for packaging and paper products in Minnesota. The policy is being developed to meet the interests of key stakeholders and will prevent waste, increase recycling, and save cities millions of dollars.

About producer responsibility

Producer responsibility policies hold producers of a product and packaging responsible for that product throughout its entire lifecycle — from product design all the way through to reuse, recycling, or safe disposal.

Producer responsibility for packaging across the U.S.

The policy development in Minnesota is occurring in tandem with the development of producer responsibility legislation for packaging and paper products in states across the country. Since 2019, a dozen U.S. states have introduced producer responsibility for packaging legislation. The first laws in the U.S. passed in Oregon and Maine in 2021 and California and Colorado in 2022.

With city recycling costs rising and consumer pressure mounting for brands to take action, momentum for producer responsibility bills for packaging and paper products has steadily grown.

Minnesota’s producer responsibility bill for packaging and paper products bill will benefit from the experiences of states that have been working with the Product Stewardship Institute to develop similar legislation and will contribute to the nationwide groundswell of activity in support of a more just and sustainable waste management system.

Timeline for the producer responsibility policy in Minnesota

Phase I: November 2021 to May 2022

A committee with representatives from local government, the state, industry, and environmental groups convened to develop and draft elements of a producer responsibility bill for packaging and paper products customized to Minnesota.

Phase II: June 2022 to June 2023

A series of stakeholder meetings were held in summer 2022 to solicit feedback on the draft elements of the producer responsibility bill for packaging and paper products. Additional meetings were held through May 2023 to refine the draft elements of an extended producer responsibility bill.

Phase III: June 2023 to May 2024

A bill will be developed in late 2023 that incorporates feedback from continued stakeholder meetings. The bill will be introduced during the 2024 Minnesota legislative session.

Learn more

Visit reducepackagingmn.org to learn more and get the latest updates.

Also see the following documents:

If you have questions about this effort, would like to request a presentation, or want to submit feedback, contact info@reducepackagingmn.org.

Ordinance 13 and 15: recycling requirements and solid waste management fee

Recycling requirements: Ordinance 13

Hennepin County revised its recycling ordinance on November 27, 2018.

New requirements

Businesses that generate large quantities of food waste must implement food recycling by January 1, 2020.
Cities must offer curbside organics recycling service to residents by January 1, 2022.
Multifamily properties must offer adequate recycling service, provide education to tenants and label recycling containers properly.
Businesses must have adequate recycling services and label recycling containers properly.

Solid waste management fee: Ordinance 15

About the ordinance

The Hennepin County Solid Waste Management Fee: Ordinance 15 was established in 1994 to fund environmental programs that protect human and environmental health. These programs include waste prevention, recycling and organics recycling, environmental education, and environmental protection programs.

The ordinance requires waste haulers to charge a fee on trash service and remit this fee to the county. The fee is not applied to recycling or organics recycling services.

Percentage rate for solid waste management fee

Effective April 1, 2019, the percentage rate of the Solid Waste Management Fee for all mixed waste services provided in Hennepin County:

Residential rate: 15.5%
Nonresidential rate change: 21.5%

Rate questions

For questions about how this rate is applied, please contact your waste hauler or Hennepin County staff:

Randy Kiser
randy.kiser@hennepin.us
612-348-5889

Chris Stubbs
christopher.stubbs@hennepin.us
612-348-7813

Enrique Vinas
enrique.vinas@hennepin.us
612-348-4919.

Waste studies

Food rescue in Hennepin County

Key learnings

Intentionally aligned partnerships between donor organizations and food rescue organizations are fundamental to the success of food rescue efforts.
Although intermediary organizations are key to the current food rescue system, food security organizations have complex and mixed experiences partnering with these organizations.
Staffing and labor are a significant challenge in the food rescue ecosystem.
Supply chain and transportation logistics continue to pose a significant challenge to ensuring the safety and quality of rescued food.
The experiences of community members underscore the need for innovation across the food rescue ecosystem.
Adequate finances and appropriate donations across the food rescue stream are key to the ability to participate in food rescue and meet community members’ needs.
Creative adaptations made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 social uprising identified promising strategies to improve food rescue efforts.

Recommendations for Hennepin County

In the transition to an equitable, zero-waste future, Hennepin County is poised to have a meaningful and transformative impact on the food rescue system. Through engagement and analysis, 14 strategies were identified for the county to pursue to ensure this impact. These strategies fit into the following recommendations:

Expand on-the-ground support for donor organizations to operationalize and improve food rescue efforts in their organizations.
Establish internal and external collaborations focused on continuous improvement of food rescue and county supports.
Leverage data to promote food rescue efforts and identify system-wide improvement opportunities.
Work with food rescue and security partners to implement creative and innovative strategies to enhance food rescue efforts and community impacts.
Embed disparity reduction and racial equity throughout the design and implementation of county strategies.

Learn more

Read the food rescue in Hennepin County report (PDF).

Residential food waste reduction study

Hennepin County conducted a consumer behavior research study in 2021 to design and test optimal messaging strategies to help residents overcome barriers to preventing wasted food. The study utilized focus groups in three distinct cohorts that intentionally received differing levels of communication throughout the study. The purpose was to assess whether varying levels of consumer engagement had an impact on projected behavior change.

Key findings and recommendations

Develop campaign content that appeals to specific demographic groups such as families, singles, older adults, young adults, and children.
Create outreach messaging that is simple, quick to read, and emphasizes money savings as a key motivator.
Emphasize that changing behavior requires addressing multiple behaviors in four specific phases: planning, purchase, preparation, and preservation.
Cultivate key partnerships such as local grocery stores and provide message placement in locations that will reach consumers at each stage of the decision-making process (planning, food acquisition, consumption, and disposal).

Learn more

Read the engaging residents to reduce food waste report (PDF).

Residential waste sort study

Hennepin County conducted a waste sort in 2016 to learn more about what residents are throwing away and what opportunities we are missing to recycle more.

The study involved sorting residential trash from Minneapolis into new categories to get better, more specific information about what could be recycled now but is not, and what opportunities need to be developed to increase recycling in the future.

Key findings

Recycling organic materials is the biggest opportunity to reduce our trash.
Residents are doing a pretty good job of recycling, but there are still opportunities to improve. We could be recycling more paper and cardboard, and people are confused about plastics.
There are opportunities to improve recycling of materials that are not accepted in curbside recycling programs, including clothing, plastic bags and film, electronics, mattresses, and scrap metal.
‬‬Reducing the amount of waste generated is the first place is the most impactful waste management practice, and there is considerable potential to improve waste prevention.

Learn more

Multifamily waste study

Hennepin County conducted a waste study in 2017 to assess how well apartment and condo buildings were recycling. The study looked at the recycling diversion rate, contamination levels in the recycling, and the composition of what was being discarded as trash.

Key findings

Apartment buildings have low recycling rates and high contamination rates
There are significant opportunities to divert more materials from the trash
Service levels are not adequate

Learn more

Read the full multifamily waste study report (PDF).

Construction and demolition waste studies

Reuse and recycling practices at remodeling and renovation projects (2022 - 2023)

A construction and demolition waste study was conducted by Stantec on behalf of Hennepin County in 2022 and 2023. The study aimed to gain insight into reuse and recycling practices at remodeling and renovation projects via interviews with contractors, site visits, and waste management data collection. Remodeling projects for the study were selected using building permit lists provided by the cities of Minneapolis, Edina, and Shorewood.

Contractors were asked a series of questions focused on reuse and recycling practices, barriers to sustainable practices, and suggestions for systemic improvement that would encourage participation. Additionally, contractors were asked to provide waste weight and diversion data associated with the focus project.

Key findings

While many contractors were interested in waste reduction and diversion concepts, there is misinformation and confusion among contractors. Topics of confusion included where and how to give items to reuse organizations, where waste goes after it's put in the mixed-use dumpster, differences between waste vendors, and value, desirability, or viability of items that could be reused.
Most contractors (63%) noted time and cost as largest barrier to building material reuse. This includes time hauling materials off-site and logistics to contact reuse outlets. Other commonly noted barriers included lack of interest from clients and lack of quality (real or perceived) compared to new building materials.
Nearly half (46%) of projects in the study, which were evenly split between commercial and residential, included some form of reuse. Most of the projects (75%) with reuse included reuse on-site through preservation within the current space or removal, restoration, or reinstallation in the same project. One-quarter of projects with reuse sent building materials off-site to salvage organizations or stored them for future projects. Common materials reused included wood flooring, doors, bathroom fixtures, cabinets, and light fixtures.

Learn more

Read the full reuse and recycling practices at remodeling and renovation projects report (PDF)

Capacity for diverting construction and demolition waste through recycling and reuse (2015)

Hennepin County commissioned a study in 2015 to assess the capacity for diverting construction and demolition waste through recycling and reuse of materials. These materials include wood, concrete, cardboard, metals, asphalt shingles, sheetrock, vinyl siding, textiles, carpet, brick and more.

The study found that more than 810,000 tons of construction and demolition materials were generated 2013, and 30 percent of those materials were recycled.

Key findings

The cost of construction and demolition landfill disposal needs to be higher to incentivize higher diversion rates.
There is ample facility capacity in the metro area to collect and process more construction and demolition waste.
Diversion of high value and/or readily reusable residential building materials, including cabinets, fixtures and old growth wood, is generally not optimized, and a significant amount of these materials are being landfilled.
There is a lack of awareness about retail outlets for reused building materials. Physical space to store and sell these materials is one of several barriers to growth of this market.
Deconstruction, a technique that carefully dismantles a building to salvage materials for reuse, can divert up to 90% of the waste material generated from building removal. The practice is used on larger commercial projects, but few contractors currently provide this service for residential properties.

Learn more

See the construction and demolition diversion capacity study (PDF).

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