September 6, 2011
City Makes Recycling Compulsory for Businesses
The city of Minneapolis has introduced mandatory recycling for all businesses, workplaces and houses of worship, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
The rule, which came into effect on Sept. 1, requires recycling collection at least twice a month. Recycling instructions must be passed on to all employees, and companies must create written recycling plans, the paper reports.
Failure to comply with the ordinance could result in a written warning, and continued non-compliance can lead to a fine. But, the paper reports, at this point it seems that there is an unofficial grace period for violators.
“We are taking our time with enforcement,” Council Member Cam Gordon, vice chair of the council’s Regulatory, Energy and Environment Committee and chief sponsor of the ordinance, told the Star Tribune. “We want to help people who aren’t [recycling]. … It’s not our intention to say, ‘Look out, we’re coming to get you.’”
The city already requires residences to recycle, according to Twin Cities Business.
Picture credit: Jon Platek
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Reader Comments
Kudos to Minneapolis! This is a huge step?
Do you know what % of the city’s waste is recycled? It would be interesting to compare and see which cities and states are leading in this effort, and what lessons they’ve learned along the way.
The next step is to document the successes in terms of cleaner water, cleaner air, improved health, healthier wildlife, and cost savings! Also, the recycling companies are probably hiring!
Beth Zonis | September 6th, 2011
It’s one thing to require recycling, it’s an entirely different story to get companies/employees/us to sort recycling sufficiently to make it viable.
If you look in lots of recycling bins there is major contamination with plastic bags, food waste, non-recyclable plastics etc.
To get its recycling programme to work, Minneapolis will need some form of quality controls and incentives and costs to businesses to get high levels of compliance and economic quality recycled material.
Nigel Morris | September 7th, 2011