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CC Regular Session 5, 7,
<br />Meeting Date: 10/12/2021
<br />By: Chris Anderson, Community
<br />Development
<br />Information
<br />Title
<br />Adopt Resolution #21-289 to Enter into a Residential Recycling Program Agreement with Anoka County
<br />Purpose/Background:
<br />Each year, Anoka County receives funding from the State of Minnesota pursuant to Minnesota Statute § 115A.557.
<br />The County distributes these funds, known as SCORE (Select Committee On Recycling and the Environment)
<br />funds, to municipalities within the county. In 2022, the allocation includes a base of $10,000 plus $5.00 per
<br />household. Ramsey's base allocation for 2022 is $57,990.
<br />The funding is intended to help municipalities achieve their recycling goals as established by the Anoka County
<br />Board of Commissioners. Ramsey's 2022 recycling goal, established by Anoka County, is 2,858 tons. The goal is
<br />based on 215 pounds per person (single family households, up to four [4] units) and 160 pounds per person for
<br />multi -tenant households (five [5] or more units). The City of Ramsey has traditionally used these funds to promote
<br />recycling and waste reduction education and awareness, notifying new residents of the recycling program
<br />components, to offset costs of the spring and fall recycling day events and other collection events/opportunities,
<br />and to fund the recycling coordinator position, which duties are a component of the City Planner position.
<br />To receive the SCORE funding, each municipality must enter into an agreement with Anoka County that outlines
<br />required components of a municipality's recycling program. These required components include providing
<br />households an opportunity to recycle at least four (4) broad types of materials, a public information program,
<br />recycling drop-off opportunities, and notifying new residents of the recycling program. Furthermore, municipalities
<br />are encouraged, but not required, to look at opportunities to expand its recycling program by offering additional
<br />drop-off events, enhance recycling at community events, enhance multi -family recycling opportunities, and/or
<br />develop opportunities for source separated organics collection.
<br />Observations/Alternatives:
<br />For the first time in four (4) years, Ramsey's tonnage goal, which includes materials collected from both single
<br />family and multi -family homes, is not increasing. The tonnage goal for 2022 will remain at 2,858 tons (had
<br />previously steadily increased from 2,077 tons in 2019, to 2,840 tons in 2020, to 2858 tons in 2021). The steady
<br />increase in tonnage goals over the past several years reflects the County's attempts to achieve the very optimistic
<br />benchmark goal, set by the state, of recycling 75% of total solid waste generated (by weight) by 2030.
<br />There have been growing challenges related to recycling over the past several years. First, China has implemented
<br />very restrictive thresholds for contaminants in bales of recycled materials that it will accept, which has significantly
<br />impacted exporting recyclables overseas. Secondly, the fluctuations in the recycling markets has also brought into
<br />question what is truly recyclable. At this time, items such as black plastic frozen dinner trays, refrigerator and
<br />freezer boxes, and fiber egg cartons, should not be put in the recycling cart as there is no longer a market for these
<br />materials (this is a change from past years).
<br />Due to the day to day changes in the recycling world, there needs to be a greater emphasis on the basic tenets of
<br />recycling, which would be to focus on fiber (paper and cardboard), aluminum and steel/tin cans, glass, and plastic
<br />containers, tubs, bottles and lids that have a #1 or #2 stamped on them.
<br />It is now more important than ever to focus on recycling education to avoid the 'wish -cycling' mentality.
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