Dive Brief:
- Officials in Minneapolis, MN hope to become a zero waste city, scheduling a public hearing proposing a ban on takeout containers on May 12, 2014. If approved, the ban could begin on January 1, 2015.
- The proposal is part of a multi-step approach to meet the city goal. The city introduced single-stream collections in 2013, and is considering expanding education to promote recycling.
- City Hall is also in the midst of creating a plan to eliminate food scraps from residential trash bins, which means implementing a separate curbside collection for organics. The ban could begin by 2015.
Dive Insight:
According to the Star Tribune, 37% of waste is recycled and composted within the city limits. Other city initiatives include recycling the Metrodome and experimenting with mini trash bins to reduce waste.
Minneapolis looks to diversion rates of cities like San Francisco and Seattle to catch a glimpse of successful recycling in action. Studies show that when recycling is easy, more people will participate, and the program's success could boil down to the ease of recycling.