Your participation in organics recycling makes all the difference
Ever wonder what happens to your food scraps and other organic material like paper towels and greasy pizza boxes that you put in your curbside organics cart?
For Bloomington residents, the material is sent to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Organics Recycling Facility where it is combined with yard waste and composted. There it breaks down into a soil-like product called finished compost.
To close the loop, the City is giving away the nutrient-rich finished compost at no cost. Get your compost at a giveaway event Saturday, May 6, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., at the Western Maintenance Center, 10500 Hampshire Avenue South. Residents can pick up three bags of finished compost while supplies last. For more details, visit blm.mn/organics.
Citywide rollout of reusable and recyclable bulky item pick-up begins in June
It can be difficult to know what to do with bulky items like couches, end tables, mattresses, bikes and building materials you no longer need. Often, these items are still in good condition for someone else to use or have components that could be recycled. When these items are picked up during Curbside Cleanup, they end up in a landfill.
To help keep these items out of the garbage, the City is launching a new curbside program for reuse and recycling of many bulky, hard-to-manage items. The service will offer residents a once-a-month opportunity for a limited quantity of items to be picked up for reuse and recycling. The program piloted to 4,000 homes in 2022 and rolls out citywide in June 2023. Learn how to get started using the new service at blm.mn/bulkies.
2023 yard waste collection has begun
The 2023 yard waste collection season began April 10 and continues through Friday, November 24, weather permitting.
Yard waste collection is a weekly subscription service available for a fee of $89.51 for the yard waste collection season. Residents with yard waste service can request one additional yard waste cart for a $39.41 fee. It’s acceptable to set out up to 20 bags of yard waste in addition to the cart(s) each week. To sign up for yard waste, contact Utility Billing at utilitybilling@BloomingtonMN.gov or 952-563-8726.
Residents can also pay per bag for on-call service by purchasing yard waste stickers for $4.50 each. Call 952-563-8757 to request stickers.
For more information, visit blm.mn/yardwaste.
