Dive Brief:
- Tri-County Organics has obtained a state permit to accept organic waste.
- Managers of the composting site are planning to accept waste beginning this week at the St. Cloud, Minnesota facility.
- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is updating its regulations to facilitate more organic waste composting sites, as the current rules are outdated, designed for small-scale operations or large sites that must meet rigid standards designed for landfills.
Dive Insight:
Organic material collected will be combined with yard waste, and then composted into matter that will be sold to farmers, gardeners and landscapers. At this time, waste will not be accepted from individuals, but it is anticipated by the facility management that the city will eventually introduce curbside collection of organic waste for residents.
A study conducted by the MPCA cited that food waste increased from 31% in 2012 from 26% in 2000 and estimates that 519,000 tons of organic waste could potentially be composted every year. The agency recently released a study detailing its findings gathered from trash collected in the Duluth area.
