FAQs

Curbside organics recycling service will be available to all households in the City’s garbage and recycling program.

If you live in an apartment, townhome or condo and are interested in participating in organics collection, here is how you can get started: 

Bring organics to a drop-off site

Bloomington residents can bring organics to three different drop-off sites.   The City will continue to operate drop-off sites for residents after curbside organics is rolled out.  There is no charge to use these sites, but you do need to sign up to use them.  Learn more and sign up to use the drop-offs on the City’s website. 

Site locations

• Valley View Park - 201 E 90th St (in parking lot in-between pool and ballfields)
• West Bush Lake Park - 95th St and W Bush Lake Rd (Near "Shelter 1" in parking lot next to maintenance storage building)
• Hennepin County also hosts an organics drop-off site at the South Hennepin Recycling and Problem Waste Drop-off Center at 1400 W 96th St. Hours are posted on the Hennepin County website.

Talk with your property manager about signing up for organics recycling service

Properties can request organics hauling service from some garbage haulers for a fee. Check if your current trash and recycling hauler provides organics for composting hauling service. There is assistance available to cover some of the startup costs through Hennepin County business recycling grants.

The City will continue to operate drop-off sites for residents after curbside organics is rolled out.   There is no charge to use these sites, but you do need to sign up to use them.  Learn more and sign up to use the drop-offs on the City’s website. 

Site locations

• Valley View Park - 201 E 90th St (in parking lot in-between pool and ballfields)
• West Bush Lake Park - 95th St and W Bush Lake Rd (Near "Shelter 1" in parking lot next to maintenance storage building)
• Hennepin County also hosts an organics drop-off site at the South Hennepin Recycling and Problem Waste Drop-off Center at 1400 W 96th St. Hours are posted on the Hennepin County website.

It is the collection of organic material in a separate cart for composting. Organics are any item that came from a plant or animal that will turn into compost. This includes:

• All food scraps, including meat and dairy products
• Pizza boxes
• Napkins and paper towels
• Certified compostable food service items like plants, cups and takeout containers
• Other compostable household items like coffee grounds, paper tea bags and paper egg cartons

After organics are collected from the curb, they are taken to a commercial composting facility where they are recycled and turned into compost, a nutrient rich soil amendment.

Waste sort studies, like the one Hennepin County conducted in 2016, continue to show that organics materials are the largest proportion of our trash, making up about 25% of the trash stream.

Click here to watch a video of how organics are turned into compost at commercial composting facilities. 

The City is planning to make curbside organics recycling available to residents, in compliance with Hennepin County Ordinance 13 which requires cities with more than 10,000 residents make organics recycling available to residents in 2022.

The collection of organic material at the curb is important to the City’s sustainability and overall solid waste reduction goals. These include the City Council’s Strategic Priorities related to reducing the citywide carbon footprint; reducing the volume of solid waste delivered to landfills and incinerators; improving water quality, and improving customer service for trash and recycling. 

Organics are any item that came from a plant or animal that will turn into compost. This includes:

Food scraps

• Fruit and vegetables
• Meat, fish and bones
• Dairy products
• Eggs and egg shells
• Pasta, beans and rice
• Bread and cereal
• Nuts and shells

Non-recyclable paper

• Pizza boxes from delivery
• Napkins and paper towels
• Paper egg cartons

Certified compostable products

• Compostable paper and plastic cups, plates, bowls, utensils and containers
• Look for the BPI logos when purchasing these items

Other compostable items

• Coffee grounds and filters
• Hair and nail clippings
• Cotton balls and swabs with paper stems
• Houseplants and flowers
• Tea bags
• Wooden items such as chopsticks, popsicle sticks and toothpicks

Items NOT accepted

• Animal and pet waste, litter or bedding
• Cleaning or baby wipes, diapers and sanitary products
• Dryer lint and dryer sheets
• Fast food wrappers, frozen food boxes, gum, grease or oil
• Household trash
• Products labeled “biodegradable”
• Microwave popcorn bags
• Recyclable items (cartons, glass, metal, paper, plastic)
• Styrofoam
• Yard waste (Leaves, grass clippings, sod, branches, stumps and logs)

Yard waste collection is available through subscription or on call service with the Garbage and Recycling program. 

For more information on what is accepted in organics recycling, visit blm.mn/organics.

The organics collected in curbside programs are taken to a local commercial compost facility and recycled into compost, a nutrient-rich material that is used in landscaping and road construction projects to improve our soil.

Participants in organics recycling programs say it’s a surprisingly easy way to make a difference. It provides a “feel good” benefit, helps the environment, and results in a visible reduction in trash.

Organics recycling:

• Provides the best opportunity to reduce our trash

Waste sort studies, like the one Hennepin County conducted in 2016, continue to show that organic materials are the largest proportion of our trash – making up about 25 percent of the trash stream.

• Reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Organic materials decomposing in landfills generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Diverting organics to composting helps to reduce landfill methane emissions.

• Improves soil and protects water

When compost is added to soil, it reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides. It also increases the water retention of soils, which reduces runoff and erosion that can pollute our water and helps to conserve water.

• Supports a local economy

Minnesota’s composting industry supports about 700 jobs and produces $148 million in gross economic activity per year. The composting industry supports four to eight times more jobs on a per ton basis than landfilling operations.

• Helps achieve our goal of zero waste to landfills

Getting organic materials out of the trash means that facilities like the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) that burn waste to generate energy have more capacity to help reduce the trash we send to landfills. In addition, sending organics materials to a composting facility is preferable to incineration for a number of reasons, including that organics recycling creates nutrient-rich compost and that burning wet organics is not energy efficient at waste-to-energy facilities.

Because the organics are taken to a commercial composting facility, there are items that can be collected that people should not compost in a backyard pile, including meat and dairy products, other greasy foods, paper towels, napkins and certified compostable products like disposable cups, bowls and plates.  The heat from the commercial composting process is able to break down these items more quickly.  Some households might choose to use both a backyard compost pile and the city’s program for those added materials that can be diverted and composted at a commercial composting facility.

Yard waste will not be accepted in curbside organics recycling carts.  In order to have yard waste collected, residents will still need to subscribe for separate yard waste service or order stickers for individual yard waste bags.  To learn more about yard waste service, visit city's website at blm.mn/yardwaste.

The City Council decided that all households will be charged for curbside organics service, like our regular recycling service.  Households will be able to opt out of participating by not receiving a cart, but will not be able to opt out of paying for the program.  

As we have looked at different models for how to make organics recycling service available to residents, we have considered different ways to fund the program.  We have found that looking at this service as a system, where it is accessible to all garbage and recycling customers, makes organics recycling service available for everyone and more affordable for residents overall.  Having a system-wide approach means we can negotiate for volume pricing with the haulers.  The city uses this system-wide approach with regular recycling, which is paid for by all residents, as well.

Keeping the prices affordable and having the service accessible also helps to ensure that residents will use the organics program.   This helps to achieve the City’s strategic goals to reduce volume of material sent to landfills and incinerators, reduce carbon emissions, and improve water quality.  If the cost to participate in the program is a subscription service, like yard waste, residents are not as likely to participate.  This is born out in other cities that have decided to make the program a subscription service. 

The City Council decided all households in the solid waste program will be billed for organics, much like our regular recycling service. Residents will be able to opt out of participating by not receiving a cart, but will not be able to opt out of paying for the program.

We are not certain what the monthly cost will be at this time.  We are in process of developing a service agreement which will affect the final rate.   Our goal is to deliver a high quality service that is affordable for residents.  By collecting organics separately, residents may be able to downsize their garbage container to offset some of the organics collection cost.