Becker County Unveils Exciting New Food Waste Recycling Program: Reducing Waste and Supporting Sustainability!

In Becker County, Minnesota, a new organics recycling program is on the way! Residents will soon have a chance to turn their kitchen scraps—like coffee grounds, pizza boxes, and banana peels—into nutrient-rich compost. Thanks to a $178,000 grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, this initiative aims to keep organic waste out of landfills.

Did you know that about 25% to 30% of our trash is organic waste? This is a significant portion of what ends up in landfills. Many of these organic items don’t burn well in incinerators, requiring them to be sorted out and taken to landfills instead. By managing waste more effectively, Becker County hopes to reduce that figure and promote a more environmentally friendly approach to waste disposal.

The program plans to include schools, restaurants, and grocery stores, encouraging them to recycle various organic materials such as fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, and food-soiled paper products. Unfortunately, there won’t be curbside pickup for organics just yet. Instead, organics bins will be available at recycling drop-off sites, including locations at the county fairgrounds and on Grant Street in Detroit Lakes. Households will receive small pails and compostable bags to make collecting scraps easy.

For participating businesses and schools, there will be access to special dumpsters and sorting tables, which will help them separate organic waste more efficiently. This arrangement not only benefits the environment but also reduces disposal costs for these institutions by lessening the weight of their overall trash.

The best part? This program will be free for everyone in its initial phase. Becker County aims to recycle between 150 to 200 tons of organic waste within the first year. As the program develops, county officials will evaluate its effectiveness, including the time spent on collection and associated costs.

The grant will fund several necessary items, like large roll-off containers for waste collection and kitchen pails for households. The county’s plan includes mixing organics with wood waste before transporting it to the Glacial Ridge Compost Facility for processing.

With this initiative, Becker County is taking a significant step toward reducing its 22,000 tons of annual solid waste. It’s an exciting move towards sustainability that could eventually lead to more community involvement in recycling efforts.

If all goes well, the program may start this summer for local businesses and in fall for schools. This recycling initiative could make a real difference in how Becker County manages organic waste, promoting a cleaner, greener community.