FAQs

The City is currently conducting a solid waste rate study to look at how residents are using our garbage and recycling programs.  The goal of the study is to better understand the relationship between the cost of solid waste service (solid waste rates), how much residents throw away (waste generation levels) and cart sizes.

The study will provide the City with information that can be used to help design our solid waste programs and adjust solid waste rates in the future.

As the cost and environmental consequences of garbage disposal rapidly increase, the City is trying to keep solid waste prices low while motivating residents to reduce waste, recycle, and compost more. Producing less waste and recycling and composting more is environmentally preferable and cost effective.

Currently, Bloomington residential garbage is processed at the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) where it is incinerated to produce electricity. The County-subsidized disposal cost at HERC has increased 34% in just 5 years, from $58/ton in 2019 to $78/ton in 2024.

Landfill disposal costs have increased as well due to limited landfill space. Landfilling our garbage is also worse for the environment than incineration, as it puts surface water at risk of contamination and the decomposition of food waste and other organic material produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change.

While recycling and composting costs have also increased, they have not risen at the same rate as garbage processing costs. Recycling and organics are taxed less than trash, and the cost of recycling is partly offset by the value of the materials we recycle. Plus, removing recycling and organics from the waste stream allows HERC to operate more efficiently, helping to slow the increase in garbage processing costs.

If the City can provide incentives for people to reduce waste, recycle, and compost, this could keep resident costs lower while helping the environment.

The City is currently conducting a solid waste study to look at how our residents are using our garbage and recycling programs.   The goal of the study is to better understand the relationship between solid waste disposal costs, cart sizes, and waste generation levels.

For one part of the study, City staff collected information from randomly selected addresses to determine the amount of garbage, recycling, and organics that are typically put out for collection.  Staff identified which services were being used at each household, the size of the carts, how full they were (volume), and how compacted the material was (weight). Staff also scanned the carts for any obvious materials that shouldn’t be in the recycling and organics carts.

The data collected will not be identified by individual addresses but will provide a statistically significant sample of households to estimate how residents use our garbage and recycling programs.  

The study will consider findings from resident surveys and focus groups in addition to this cart data.

The pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) garbage rate model charges households based on the amount of trash they throw away, like how electricity and gas are charged.  Bloomington currently has a minimal PAYT rate structure, with a small difference in price for different garbage cart sizes. However, this price difference does not reflect the actual cost differences to dispose of trash. This means that a resident who produces very little garbage may be paying almost as much for disposal as a resident who is filling a large garbage cart.   We often hear from residents who don’t think this model is fair.

A rate structure with a larger price differential between the size of garbage carts that more closely connects the cost for garbage to the amount people are throwing away may encourage households to reduce waste and recycle more.  This could keep our garbage expenses lower for residents overall and is better for the environment.  

Many cities and towns around the world, including over 9,000 in the U.S., have pay-as-you-throw garbage rate structures.  Unlike electricity and gas where you are charged by units used, PAYT garbage programs typically use volume-based pricing (i.e. charge by the cart size) due to the operational difficulty of weighing actual garbage set out by each home weekly.

Pay-as-you-throw programs have environmental and economic benefits.  Communities with successful programs in place have reported 1 17% on average reductions in waste amounts.  This results in several important environmental benefits.  Less waste and greater recycling and composting means that fewer natural resources are used, less energy is consumed, and less pollution is created in the production and disposal of our goods.  

Pay-As-You Throw rates can provide a financial benefit on a City level as well as household level.

Pay-As-You-Throw rates provide a financial incentive for residents to generate less trash and recycle and compost more, and can help reduce the City’s overall costs for garbage and recycling services.  The cost to dispose of garbage has been rapidly increasing at both the County-owned waste-to-energy facility where our garbage is currently processed (the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center also known as HERC) and at privately owned landfills.  The County- subsidized cost to dispose of garbage at HERC has gone from $58/ton in 2019 to $78/ton in 2024.  That is a 34% increase in disposal costs in just 5 years.  Price increases at landfills have increased similarly as the space needed for burying garbage is in limited supply.

While costs to recycle and compost materials have increased over time, they have not risen at the same rate as processing waste at HERC or burying it at local landfills.  Often, the value of the materials collected through the recycling program can help offset the costs for collection and processing of that waste.

The idea behind Pay-As-You-Throw rate programs is to provide a financial incentive for residents to reduce the amount of trash they produce and set out for disposal, thereby reducing overall costs for waste collection and reducing the environmental impacts of waste.  A recent comprehensive review of research on ways to encourage positive environmental actions found that financial incentives were a powerful motivator for people to take action.

Currently, City staff propose rates for solid waste programs each year by reviewing the City’s contractual obligations to the Bloomington Haulers’ Consortium and the City’s administrative costs for providing the services (staff, utility billing, customer service, public education, etc.).   The only variable in the rates that residents pay is based on the size of the garbage cart that they request.   That variable in price is based solely on the rates that the Haulers’ Consortium charges the City for each cart size and the associated solid waste taxes associated with that price. All residents in the program pay the same rate for recycling and organics collection and the same administrative costs, regardless of cart size or how frequently they utilize the services.  This method of rate setting provides a small incentive for downsizing a garbage cart size but is not likely to affect significant behavior change to more environmentally beneficial methods of handling solid waste.

Not necessarily.  The City is studying different rate models to look for ways to create incentives for residents to recycle and compost more to help keep our overall costs for garbage collection more manageable.  By taking steps to increase your recycling and organics collection, you may be able to pay less for your service by downsizing the size of your garbage cart. This puts the power in your hands to determine the best way to keep your costs low.

Maybe.  By reducing waste, recycling more and using curbside organics collection, you may be able to reduce the size of your garbage cart and reduce your overall garbage costs.  If residents reduce waste, and recycle and compost more, the City can keep overall garbage and recycling rates more manageable.

The City Council has already adopted the rates for garbage, recycling, and organics collection for 2024.  The soonest any changes would occur would be starting in 2025.  

The City has just started the process of studying how a more variated pay-as-you-throw rate structure might work in Bloomington and no decisions have been made to adopt a new system.  Regardless of the study outcomes, the City reviews the garbage, recycling, and organics collection rates annually to make sure that the City can adequately pay for program operations. It is likely there will be some change to rates in 2025 as hauling and disposal costs continue to increase.

Any change in rates will affect all households that currently participate in the City’s organized garbage collection program.  This includes all single-family homes, duplexes, and some townhome complexes that have opted to participate in the organized collection program.

Yes.  The City plans to continue collecting the same materials for recycling and curbside organics collection.  We do regularly review the list of materials we collect for recycling to make sure that there are good end markets (users) for the materials that are collected.  Those end markets have been stable for many years, and we anticipate that those markets will continue to use the materials that are collected for many years to come.

No. State Statute and Hennepin County ordinance require the City to charge all residents for these services if they are offered.