Content area
Full text
Maple Grove, located 15 miles northwest of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, is a growing suburban city with large lots and new lawns but few mature trees. To comply with Minnesota's ban on the disposal of yard trimmings in landfills or waste-to-energy facilities, Maple Grove provides residents with a convenient, low cost method to handle yard materials through a contract with a private nursery company.
Prior to 1990, Hennepin County operated a composting site for yard trimmings that was open to county haulers and residents. However, due to difficulties with siting a permanent facility, county officials required the cities to locate their own sites. Funding from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (SWEF)--which accrues revenues from a surcharge placed on municipal solid waste deposited at county facilities--was made available to the cities in the interim. Essentially, it meant that the county was returning the money it had collected and budgeted for managing yard trimmings to the cities on a per capita basis. This amounted to approximately $0.65 per person.
When the responsibilities for managing yard trimmings were deferred to the cities, Jon Elam, the City Manager of Maple Grove, asked Ed Lynde and Jeffrey McLeod, owners of a local nursery and garden store, if they would be interested in operating a site to manage this organic stream. Within the month, a...