Waste Reduction & Recycling Board

CITY OF ANOKA WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING BOARD Meeting Minutes September 11, 2024 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Jones at 4:53 p.m. in the Work Session Room of Anoka City Hall. Roll Call  Board Members Present: Veronica Jones, Marijo Hain, Sue Dergantz, and Jan Call (Call left at 5:43 p.m.).  Absent: Eileen Rathbun, Cheryl Knapek, Brenda Belland  Staff Present: Pam Bowman, Recycling Manager  Others Present: None Approval of August 14, 2024 Meeting Minutes A motion to approve the August minutes was made by Member Hain, seconded by Member Dergantz. 4 ayes – 0 nays. Motion passed. Old Business Subcommittees Reports ● Multi-Unit Program – Nothing new to report regarding River 10 Apartments. They have to start crushing their cardboard but other than that they have been very proactive. It’s just the residents that have to get better at it. No other updates for multi-units. ● Organics Program - After monitoring the container, it is clear that participants are not producing much volume on a weekly basis. Flowers have not been dumped in it as much in the last month. Therefore, Bowman switched the service to every other week. We will continue with the 4-yard dumpster unless that is not filling up on a bi-weekly basis. 1  The rate being charged went from $620 per month to $155 per month with this switch. Bowman questioned ACE Solid Waste in detail as to why it was so expensive for so long. They were charging $155 per week. While they refuse acknowledge any overcharging, they told Bowman they felt Anoka needed a break, so they are reducing the cost to $155 per month. This is more in line with what other cities are paying for this service through ACE or other haulers. ● Little Free Library – We Read & Reuse Books (WRRB) – Bowman continues to clean it out on a weekly basis. There have been a lot of religious pamphlets, a bead bracelet, stickers, and more junk that gradually appear. She stated that it is now fully stocked and almost overflowing. ● Soles4Souls – Nothing new to report. Vice Chair Jones recently dropped off a bag of shoes and stated that they are always very pleasant and accepting of donations. Fall Recycling Event – Saturday, September 28, 2024, 8 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at 501 Pierce Street Bowman handed out the general flyer and the site map. At the last meeting it was agreed to keep the layout as is. All of the fees remain the same as the spring event. Advertising is well underway. Bowman will talk to the student group about wearing safety vests, that there is to be no climbing on the equipment, and no trying on of donated clothing. Diane Grinde has volunteered. Vice Chair Jones and Member Belland will monitor shoes and bikes. Members Dergantz and Call will monitor mattresses. Member Hain and Diane Grinde will monitor traffic flow. Bowman asked if there are any specifics for the food provided. Vice Chair Jones asked that vegetarian sandwiches be provided. Otherwise, there were no requests. Bowman will have a check for the Anoka Lions for their support and thought that a group photo as well as one of the members presenting the check to them could be taken. All members were in favor of this idea. The picture will be posted in social media in the future. Pumpkin Smash Update – Bowman ordered a 20-yard container (5’ in height) through ACE Solid Waste and the cost will be $363.22. It will be delivered on Friday, November 1, and removed on Monday, November 11. That gives residents from November 2-10 to utilize the opportunity to compost their pumpkins. Bowman will be on vacation November 6-11. She asked if a member would stop by occasionally to check on the dumpster during those dates. Vice Chair Jones volunteered to do so. Advertising will begin in October. Vice Chair Jones asked if rules will be posted. Bowman stated that sandwich boards will be placed to indicate rules. Farmers Market on the Rum – Wednesdays through September 25, 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. Thank you to Members Belland and Dergantz for attending the Wednesday, August 21, market. They signed up five new participants to the organics program and were also busy adding clings to the new recycling lids for the Social District containers. Their help is much appreciated! The next booth at the market is next Wednesday, September 18. Members Dergantz and Call as well 2 as Vice Chair Jones have indicated they will attend. If a tent is needed Bowman may need help with set up. RAW Newsletter Fall Edition – Bowman provided the board with a copy of the fall edition of the RAW Newsletter. It arrived in homes in late August. There will only be two editions produced next year; spring and fall. Social District Recycling Update – The placement of the containers is delayed due to the storms and Public Services has extended cleaning up debris through this Friday, September 13. They have not had time to assemble the Social District recycling containers and may not have time before the close of the Social District on Sunday, October 6. Disappointingly, Anoka County has denied an application for reimbursement for the recycling containers, labels, and signs. Last year they helped Bowman work through a design for the signs. They knew we were in the process of ordering the supplies, but never told her that the application was due prior to purchase. Her understanding was that it was a reimbursement grant and she had to show receipts for the purchases in order to apply. This was poor communication overall. The city used ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Funds to cover $10,000 and Social District Funds will cover $7,000. Member Dergantz asked how many containers were purchased for that price. Bowman stated that there approximately 17. Vice Chair Jones suggested bringing a card thanking the Public Services Department for all of their hard work especially relating to their work with the board. Bowman offered to bake treats. New Business ACE Solid Waste Annual Report – Representative(s) from ACE Solid Waste were unable to attend. The rescheduled date is to be determined. Bowman let them know that each of the following monthly meetings will work for the board. Textiles and Hard to Recycle Plastics Discussion – Vice Chair Jones did a great job in providing information to the board on Tare Market regarding textiles (fast fashion) and Ridwell regarding hard to recycle plastics, as well as other recycling and reuse outlets. Ridwell charges a monthly fee and each member receives a bin and a set of reusable cloth bags. Drivers collect the cloth bags every two weeks and leave empty cloth bags in the bin. They are all about processing things that are hard to recycle. Ridwell has a three-tier system with items that are always recycled and items that may be added per each member’s preferences. They are running a pilot program with Target to collect hard to recycle plastics now through Tuesday, October 22, at the Edina, Minnetonka, and Plymouth stores accepting clean, dry food packaging made from “crinkly, flexible plastic.” This includes coffee bags, chip bags, net product bags, and multi-layer resealable food bags. Bowman asked if we could connect with 3 Ridwell about being a pilot program city. Vice Chair Jones said yes, we could and thought it would be a great thing to put on our list of things to do for 2025. https://try.ridwell.com/social- target-plastic-dropoff/?rtid=TWrex6K In thinking of reuse of clothing, Vice Chair Jones reached out to Michelle Austin-Dehn at R Marketplace. She hosted a clothing swap in her store this year and much of the clothing was claimed by swap participants. Hope for Youth shopped after the event and the remaining clothing was donated to ACBC Food Shelf. She is planning to host another swap just before the city-wide garage sales in 2025 and is also considering a children’s clothing swap in August of 2025 to coincide with Night to Unite events, as well as a flea market. Bowman really feels that it is a great plan that we partner with her similar to us partnering with Peterson Shoes. VC Jones said that Ms. Austin-Dehn is really glad that the board is thinking of partnering with her. Tare Market, which has two locations in Northeast and Powderhorn Minneapolis, sponsors eco- challenges, like Fighting Food Waste in August and Secondhand in September. They have additional reduce, reuse, and recycle information on their website at www.thetaremarket.com/ Part of that is they brought textile recycling with Trashie, which accepts clothing. You pay $20 and send your clothes to them and they claim to responsibly handle textiles. You will receive a credit sometimes more than the $20 for other stores. They also have in-store recycling. They rotate what is collected. Vice Chair Jones encouraged the board to check out the website to see what can be recycled. She also found free and fee-based donation options: ○ Anoka Hennepin School District has a Career Closet as their special education program ○ USAgain drop boxes - donated textiles are sorted for reuse, rags, recycling. ○ Madewell jeans recycling program. Request a prepaid postage kit, mail in any denim products, and receive a $20 credit for each item sent in. ○ H&M stores accept used clothing for use in their recycled clothing line. Bag up any clothing in any condition to drop off in-store. ○ Carter’s and Terracycle have partnered to recycle kid clothing for free. ○ Trashie Take Back Bag – purchase bag, prepaid mailing, get retail credits. Bowman feels that we should work with R-Marketplace and add it on our goals for next year. She also added that working with Ridwell might also be an option. Vice Chair Jones will reach out to them and ask if they are interested in working with our city and if they will present to our board. 4 Communications 2024 Meetings & Activities Schedule – Bowman provided the board the draft of the 2024 schedule. Chairpersons Communication Board was cancelled for September. The next Chairpersons meeting is Wednesday, December 4. The schedule was reviewed and no changes were suggested. General Recycling Questions – When the members meet with ACE for the annual report, the question about where they take the organics should be asked. October Meeting Agenda – Members may e-mail Bowman with any ideas. Adjournment - The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. 5