Mankato, MN Council Faces Decision on Organics Recycling

One option is curbside pickup of the material in a third wheeled-cart at Mankato homes that would join carts for garbage and traditional recyclables such as containers, paper and cardboard. "What we would hope is a commitment to continue some sort of program," Betty Winkworth said to the council Monday night.

Winkworth and Jane Dow, with help from Katy Wortel, organized and led the pilot project through a group named Mankato Zero Waste.

The current program has Dumpsters at Sibley Park and the Public Works Center where Mankatoans can drop off their uneaten food, vegetable peels, tissues, paper towels, pizza boxes and a nearly endless list of other materials that can be composted. Those materials are hauled to a rural Good Thunder facility that transforms them into a nutrient-rich soil additive.

Without organics recycling, the food waste ends up at garbage-burning plants or in landfills where the materials produce excessive amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas.

Nearly 550 people in Mankato have signed up for the drop-off program, largely through the educational and promotional efforts of the three women, working with city officials.

"You’ve done all the heavy lifting," Council President Mike Laven said. "Pun intended."
Mayor Eric Anderson concurred: "You two ladies, you’ve worked your tails off."

The program has grown to the point of capturing 34 tons of organic waste, and businesses and schools have also been converted to the cause and contribute many more tons. Council member Jenn Melby-Kelley said she’s also become a proponent at her coffee shop. "I cut my garbage down by 75 percent," Melby-Kelley said.

Along with the environmental benefits, there are economic considerations, Dow told the council.
Recyclable organics now being thrown out with the trash make up about a third of the volume of refuse being hauled away by garbage trucks. And the food waste tends to be heavy, adding to the costs the city pays — known as tipping fees — to dispose of that trash. Tipping fees at the Good Thunder composting site are lower and aren’t subject to taxes. "So there’s a lot of reasons for doing it," she said.