Seasons The Greening of Maplewood
Waste as a Resource
By Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) reports that there are 1,800 old dump sites in Minnesota. This is one way many communities managed solid waste prior to the establishment of the MPCA in 1967. The former Maplewood Dump, located east of Feed Products (1300 McKnight Road), operated from the 1950s to the late 1960s. Some residents may remember backing up to the dump site in their station wagon or pick-up truck and dumping their trash, appliances, and other junk right into the ravine! In 2001 the City entered into a Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (VIC) program with the MPCA to clean up the former Maplewood Dump. Environmental assessments did not indicate contaminants in the soils and groundwater, but the exposed debris did pose a nuisance. The clean up requires that the City cover the site with at least 4 feet of soil to separate the debris from the surface and revegetate the area. The work is scheduled to be complete by the end of the year.
Assessments and clean up of old dump sites come at a cost to the environment and to taxpayers. Avoiding future costs is why sound solid waste management is important today.
Solid waste management has come a long way since dumps and back-yard burn barrels. The 1970s brought numerous statewide solid waste management rules including sanitary landfill requirements and recycling legislation. In the 1980s the first resource recovery facility opened. These facilities sort waste, remove bulky items that can be recycled, and convert the remaining waste to fuel to create electricity. This was a shift in philosophy from waste as something we just dispose of, to looking at waste as a resource. The 1990’s furthered that philosophy with the focus on regional solid waste planning. Now much of the responsibility for waste management is placed on local governments.
Fall 2012 To better manage solid waste in Maplewood, the City has organized its residential trash service. Beginning October 1, 2012, the Maplewood Trash Plan will begin, with the City contracting with Allied Waste Services as the residential trash hauler. The City’s recycling program will continue as is with Tennis Recycling as the City’s contracted residential recycling hauler. Maplewood is the first City in the state to organize trash hauling under the statutory process in the last two decades. The process and the decision by the City Council to organize trash hauling did not come easy – it was long and difficult with many points of views expressed. Now that the decision has been made, the City is moving forward with implementation and the goal of a successful roll out of the Maplewood Trash Plan. Instead of the make, take, waste philosophy of the past, Maplewood is looking forward and increasing our efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle. The Maplewood Trash Plan will help the City achieve the goal of managing waste as a resource.
Maplewood Trash Plan Goals
Save Residents Money on Collection Rates
Better Manage Solid Waste
Decrease Truck Emissions and Road Impacts
Standardize and Automate Collection