2.1 Trash and Recycling Services Staff Report
1
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: January 4, 2023
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Anne Hurlburt, Interim City Administrator
Re: Trash and Recycling Services in the City of Scandia
Issue:
For many years, SRC was the dominant company providing trash hauling services to Scandia
residents. Since 1994, the township/city had a contract with SRC to provide recycling services to
residents, with the city subsidizing some of the cost with an annual payment ($27,846 in 2022.)
In 2022, SRC was acquired by Waste Management (WM), which was already serving some
Scandia customers. In November, WM informed the city that they would not extend the SRC
recycling contract unless the payment was increased substantially, to an estimated cost of over
$280,000 for 2023. The city informed WM that this was not possible. WM has indicated that
they will continue to provide recycling services to their Scandia customers, without an increase
in their waste and recycling bills, until the city can determine how it will approach recycling
services in the future.
Concurrently, we identified an issue with the city’s ordinance that governs trash and recycling
services (City Code Chapter 52: Garbage). It dates to 1970, a time when burning and open
dumping were the most common forms of solid waste management. It does not comply with state
law and is inadequate for today’s needs. The provisions for licensing waste haulers have not been
implemented (though Washington County also licenses haulers.) A new ordinance is needed.
Staff has been consulting with Washington County Environmental Specialist Max Dalton (651
430-6714/ max.dalton@co.washington.mn.us) to understand the city’s options for dealing with
recycling and trash services. He has assured us Scandia’s recycling grant ($13,188 in 2022) will
continue as the city deals with these issues. He provided us with sample ordinances to review,
and will be a resource to the city and in attendance at the January 4 meeting.
Washington County also has technical assistance available to the city through their contract with
Foth consultants, at no cost to the city and covered as part of the grant program. Before they will
involve Foth, the city needs to determine the type of solid waste and recycling collection system
it wants to pursue.
2
Options:
The two main types of collection system are commonly referred to as “open collection” and
“organized collection.” The attached document from the League of Minnesota Cities, “City
Solid Waste Management” describes the two types, with some pros and cons, along with
additional information about city responsibilities for waste management.
Open collection systems allow individual residents and businesses to contract with any collector
licensed to do business in the city. Organized collection is an optional use of the city’s authority
to choose the waste hauler(s) to serve the community through an RFP process. It is also possible
to have a hybrid system where some collection (such as recycling) may be organized, but other
collection services are open.
Additional Information:
Other Washington County communities have dealt with solid waste and recycling in different
ways. Please see the following table for a list of cities using each approach (and their haulers for
organized collection and hybrid system communities.)
Washington County Communities Solid Waste and Recycling
Organized Collection Hybrid
(allows open collection for
trash but organized collection
for recycling)
Open Collection
• Afton (Highland
Sanitation)
• Birchwood (Tennis
Sanitation)
• Forest Lake (Republic)
• Marine on St. Croix
(Waste Management)
• Stillwater (Waste
Management.)
• Baytown Township
(Maroney’s Sanitation)
• Grant (Waste
Management)
• Lake St. Croix
Beach/Lakeland
Shores/St. Mary’s Point
(joint agreement with
Highland Sanitation)
• West Lakeland Township
(Tennis Sanitation)
• Mahtomedi (Maroney’s
Sanitation)
• Cottage Grove
• Denmark Township
• Hugo
• Lake Elmo
• Newport
• Oakdale
• Woodbury
Washington County solid waste and recycling information can be found here:
Solid Waste Regulation | Washington County, MN - Official Website
3
Citizen Concerns:
Since the purchase of SRC by WM, the city has been receiving calls and emails from residents
concerning issues with WM’s service. There have been active discussions on social media. Some
residents have been contacting haulers serving neighboring communities, and we’ve had an
inquiry from a hauler asking how to get licensed in Scandia.
We’ve asked county staff to weigh in on whether Scandia might be able to allow new haulers to
operate in Scandia until such time as we finalize our new ordinances. There are a small handful
of communities that rely on the county licensing program to ensure they are in compliance with
any state and local laws. While this may draw interest for other haulers to service the area, it
may also get ahead of the city’s process to determine what approach will be best for Scandia.
Discussion with one hauler indicate that until the city determines its course of action, new
competitors may be reluctant to expand into Scandia due to the investment required..
We’ve also heard complaints concerning WM’s invoices and terms of service, as residents
formerly served by SRC received their first bills from WM this week. Attached to this memo are
sample invoices from one customer, showing a quarterly bill from SRC for comparison with
their new quarterly invoice from WM.
There has been some misunderstanding about how Scandia residents have been paying for
recycling. SRC’s bills did not specifically list “recycling”, but did show charges for “non-taxable
service” at $10.00 per month This was the recycling charge. Scandia’s contract with SRC did not
pay the full cost for recycling service. The new WM invoice shows the same $10.00 per month
recycling charge.
Recommendations:
Staff recommends that the Council discuss the options. You may choose to give direction on a
preferred approach or request more information for discussion at a future meeting.
The Council may also want to discuss how to communicate with citizens about this issue or
involve them in the decision-making process. The city’s decisions and future ordinance will also
affect businesses and commercial waste haulers, so you may want to involve them in the process
(potentially involving the city’s EDA.)
The Council could also discuss whether you want to allow haulers other than WM to serve
Scandia (under the county’s licensing) until Scandia develops its own program.
Attachments:
• League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo, “City Solid Waste Management”,
6/8/2022
• Sample SRC and Waste Management Bills