Hennepin County’s goal of closing a trash incinerator in downtown Minneapolis by 2040 will require major investments, new state laws, and cultural shifts, according to a report presented to county commissioners this week.
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners asked environmental staff in October to develop plans to shutter the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC), which burns trash to generate power, sometime between 2028 and 2040. The move came after years of pressure from environmental justice advocates and state lawmakers, who say the incinerator’s pollution disproportionately harms residents of the near North Side. The HERC is located on the north side of downtown Minneapolis near Target Field.
The board expects to receive a closure plan in February.
Reaching the closure goal will require a massive increase in recycling rates boosted by changes to state law, according to a January 25 presentation to county commissioners.
“Change is difficult, it’s a heavy lift. We’re up for it,” said County Administrator David Hough.
County staff estimate that meeting goals of diverting 90% of all waste to recycling, organics recycling, or composting will require hundreds of millions of dollars. Today, just 42% of waste in Hennepin County is diverted from the HERC and landfills. The incinerator burns about half of all trash generated in the county today, most from Minneapolis.
The county does not want the HERC’s closure to create new or expanded landfills, which are large sources of the potent greenhouse gas methane.
Help wanted from lawmakers
Hennepin County will lobby lawmakers when they convene February 12 to pass bills moving the state toward a zero-waste future.
A major target is making companies more responsible for the cost of recycling their products’ packaging. Such laws heavily incentivize sustainable packaging and can create more jobs in the recycling and packaging sectors. Four states currently have such legislation, known as extended producer responsibility laws.
Other laws the county will promote include efforts to ban plastic bags and reduce single-use plastics, increase state funding for recycling and zero-waste initiatives, and banning recyclable and organic materials from landfills.
“So much of the discussion has been around the HERC, but it’s really about solid waste and zero waste,” said Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando, whose district includes the HERC.
Legislators put pressure on Hennepin County in a 2023 bonding bill provision to develop a closure plan for the HERC in order to receive funding for a proposed anaerobic digester facility, which would process organic waste to create fuel. But county officials have moved on from that plan, the Star Tribune reported.
Now, the county wants the state to help invest in a sorting facility that will remove recyclable and organic waste from trash. About 40% of what is trashed today in Hennepin County could be recycled, according to Assistant County Administrator for Public Works Lisa Cerney.
“I would encourage everyone here today to go home and take a look at what’s in your waste bin,” Cerney said.
Commissioner Angela Conley said she was excited by the challenge, and thinks it’s a call for the region to push for change. She is hopeful that mayors across Hennepin County will help advocate for new laws in the 2024 legislative session to make the closure timeline realistic. Making those changes will be expensive, she said, adding that it’s worth the cost.
“It’s expensive to reverse environmental racism and injustices,” Conley said.
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Faster closure, more community involvement
The January 25 county board presentation was somewhat frustrating for advocates who have fought to close the HERC for years. While several said it was clear the county understands the issue, it signaled to them that officials are leaning towards closing the incinerator later in its 2028 to 2040 timeline.
Krystle D’Alencar with the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table said the date range is disappointing, and seems to discount the fact that the waste is a significant contributor to climate change.
Audua Pugh runs the nonprofit Rusty and the Crew, which promotes recycling in north Minneapolis. She believes the county will push for a 2040 closure date, and feels that there needs to be a larger emphasis on community engagement to increase recycling rates. Pugh also wants more community engagement about the future of the HERC site, which she and other activists feel should be redeveloped into an asset that benefits the community.
“We need to have a say, too,” Pugh said.
Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde echoed the sentiment that the county needs to improve its community engagement, particularly in the suburbs. Lunde, a former Brooklyn Park mayor, said city leaders are unlikely to help advocate for waste reduction laws at the Capitol because they aren’t hearing residents prioritize those issues. Trash is often out of sight, out of mind, he said, and the county should do more to ensure that residents know where their trash ends up.
Every city in the county would likely resist building a new landfill or incinerator in their area, Lunde added.
“Everybody is fine with the HERC as long as it’s not in their community,” he said. “Everybody is fine with landfills as long as it’s not in their city.”
