Improve recycling services and expand to multi-unit housing and commercial businesses.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Require by license (and ideally also ordinance) the provision of recycling services in multi-unit residential buildings; city recycling collection from commercial businesses; report implementation of at least 3 "good" recycling Best Management Practices (e.g., email/text recycling reminders). Note that pre-2018 organized collection entries are listed under this action, and that post-2017 organized collection entries are under 22.7 |
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Report the city recycling rate prominently on the city's web site (by only licensing haulers that report their data); provide as requested larger carts/2nd recycling container at no added cost to resident; collect co-mingled fiber/containers; report implementation of 3 “better” recycling BMPs; in greater MN, require collection of recyclables from commercial entities. |
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Require that each tenant in multi-unit housing is provided a recycling container for their unit; assure multi-unit recycling during routine city building inspections; report implementation of 3 “best” recycling BMPs. |
Resources
- The MPCA's Tools for local government page has 23 recycling BMPs (best management practices) grouped into “good,” “better” and “best.” The goal of implementing a mix of these BMPs is to make a more effective, economical, and environmentally friendly recycling system in your city, be it city-run or hauler-run. Documents to help cities adopt these actions are license templates, a hauler services agreement template, and three Request for Proposal frameworks.
- Recycling at your business (and at multi-family housing) provides MPCA guidance for all cities, and specifically Twin-City-area businesses required to recycle under MN law. On the "Resources for cities and counties" subpage see the Minneapolis ordinance for recycling at commercial buildings and a study for the city of St. Louis Park, which has a multi-family recycling ordinance. Coon Rapids also conducted a successful study and pilot on how to increase recycling at multi-unit residences, which led to a short-lived 2017 commercial recycling ordinance requiring, for multi-units with centralized collection, equal-sized trash & recycling containers placed side-by-side, picked-up with equal frequency at least weekly, and recycling containers for each household.
- In 2015 the Urban Sustainability Directors Network developed, under Commercial Waste Scan, a tool that prioritizes commercial strategies appropriate to your city, in service of developing a commercial waste diversion plan.
- Transforming Trash in Urban America (Partnership for Working Families: 2013) presents elements of sustainable recycling to create trash management systems that fight climate change, create family-sustaining jobs, and support strong local economies and healthy communities.
Order Number
6
Action Type
Finite