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The following organizations received business recycling grants from Hennepin County. There are two types of recycling grants available to businesses:
- Bin and compostable bag grants for small businesses and nonprofit organizations to start or improve recycling
- Waste prevention grants to fund projects that prevent waste
Central Lutheran Church
 Christine and other volunteers stand ready to educate people and minimize cross contamination in the waste bins.
Staff and volunteers from Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis submitted a request form expressing interest in a grant to start organics recycling. A Hennepin County Business recycling program specialist reached out in response to schedule a site visit. Following the visit, the church applied for and received a grant for indoor bins and compostable bags. Hennepin County also provided free labels to identify bins for proper sorting.
The church’s Central for Caring Creation team volunteered to oversee waste stations as organics recycling kicked off in the cafeteria during earlier this summer during the summer of 2022. Staff and volunteers in the kitchen were also instrumental in maintaining a strong organics recycling culture by purchasing certified compostable products for serving food and sorting food preparation scraps.
Request free labels and signs
A variety of signs and labels are available for offices, cafeterias, commercial kitchens, public spaces and more. Order free recycling, organics recycling and trash signs.
Apply for a bin and compostable bag grant
The county is providing free resources and assistance for small businesses and nonprofit organizations to start or improve recycling and organics recycling. Applicants may select up to $3,000 worth of containers and compostable bags from the county's product list. Review the grant flyer (PDF) to learn more.
Grants are currently available, and applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until Monday, November 14, 2022, or until the annual program budget is exhausted.
To apply:
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- Review the grant guidelines (PDF)
- For application materials, submit a business recycling information online request form.
Good To Go Cups
 Coconut Whisk Café owner Bella, left, café employees and Good To Go Cups owners Michelle and Melissa.
Good To Go Cups was started by two Edina women with a passion for environmental sustainability. They applied for and received a waste prevention grant through Hennepin County to partially fund the design and manufacture of their reusable 16-ounce Good To Go Cup, which is made from a plant-based polylactic acid that is high heat-tolerant.
According to their research, more than 50 billion paper coffee cups end up in the trash in the United States each year despite the fact that cups are only used for an average of 13 minutes each! If only 250 customers opted for a reusable cup each day, more than 7,000 paper cups could be saved in one month.
Good To Go Cups’ app-based cup exchange program was launched during summer 2022 at Coconut Whisk Café on Nicollet Mall in on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.
How it works for coffee shops
Participation in the Good To Go Cups exchange program is free to beverage shops. In fact, shops save money from all the disposable products they no longer need to purchase. If you would like to learn more about participating, visit goodtogocups.com or email hello@goodtogocups.com
How it works for customers
Customers who want to participate in the cup exchange program download the app. They then purchase a drink in a 16oz reusable Good to Go Cup at a participating coffee shop. Customers then return their cups to a participating coffee shop when finished and repeat!
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Apply for a Hennepin County waste prevention grant
This grant program funds projects (like the one that Good To Go Cups received) that prevent waste in the business sector. Areas of focus include replacing disposables with reusables, food waste prevention and innovative projects around research and development (to prevent waste). Review the grant flyer (PDF) to learn more.
To apply:
- Review the grant guidelines (PDF)
- For application materials, submit a business recycling information online request form.
Grants are currently available, and applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until Monday, November 14, 2022, or until the annual program budget is exhausted.
Visit the business recycling web page to learn more and apply.
50th & France Business Association
 50th & France organics compactor in 2013
In 2013, the first year of the county’s business recycling grant program, 50th & France Business Association received a grant to start organics recycling at four Edina businesses. The association and the City of Edina Economic Development Office secured a Dick’s Sanitation organics compactor for the four businesses to share. During the summer of 2022, Hennepin County staff visited the shopping district and confirmed organics recycling is still in place after nine years.
 50th & France organics compactor in 2022 with labeling that meets Ordinance 13 labeling requirements
Ongoing assistance from Hennepin County
Hennepin County’s business recycling specialists are actively working with Mann Theatres, a new tenant that wishes to join the area organics recycling program when it opens this fall. The new theater is in the former Edina Cinema, which participated in the 2013 organics grant project.
The Edina Economic Development Office is also working with county staff to update bin labels and train all participating businesses to ensure that organics recycling continues to be a part of waste management at the 50th & France shopping area.
Hennepin County staff are available to meet with you to discuss recycling and waste prevention opportunities and conduct trainings. To get started, fill out a Business recycling request form.
Is organics recycling required or not?
When the 50th & France Business Association started organics recycling in 2013, it was with the voluntary desire to divert food and other compostable material to reduce the amount of trash and fees associated with trash. The grant they received was part of a Hennepin County program that has changed over time. Organics bags and bins are now available to small businesses and nonprofits through the bin and bag grant program.
As of January 1, 2020, businesses that produce large quantities of food waste are required to recycle it. Businesses that already have organics recycling in place are on their way to complying. See the next article to learn more about these requirements that are part of Ordinance 13 and see if your business needs to comply.
Certain businesses that generate one ton of trash per week or contract for eight cubic yards or more of trash per week must have food-waste recycling in place (see the list of covered generators below).
To be compliant with the requirement, businesses must:
- Have food-waste recycling service in place
- Provide food-waste collection containers back-of-house and properly label them
- Separate food waste from trash in back-of-house operations; this is not required in front-of-house operations
- Provide education and train employees annually
Covered generators
The food-waste recycling requirement applies to businesses (including commercial businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public entities) that generate one ton of trash per week or contract for eight cubic yards or more of trash per week in the following sectors:
Restaurants, grocery stores, food wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers, hotels, hospitals, sports venues, event centers, caterers, nursing and residential care facilities, office buildings with dining services, farmers markets, food shelves and food banks, colleges and universities with dining services, shopping centers, airports, golf clubs and country clubs, rental kitchens or shared use commercial kitchens.
Documents to prepare for your upcoming Ordinance 13 inspection
A Hennepin County Ordinance 13 Specialist recently began inspecting food businesses to check for compliance with Ordinance 13 requirements.
To help streamline your inspection process, you can gather two documents to provide upon request:
Employee training log
If you meet the definition of a covered generator, you must provide proof that your employees have been trained on how to properly separate recyclables and organics from the trash. An employee training tracking template, along with the required training modules, can be found under the Education and training resources tab at hennepin.us/businessorganics.
Proof of how much trash you contract to haul per week
This can be a copy of the contract you have with your waste hauler or other written document from the hauler that states your level of hauling service. See two examples below.
  If you have questions regarding whether your business is required to comply with Hennepin County’s Ordinance 13, or have questions about the inspection process, email businessrecycling@hennepin.us or call 612-543-9298.
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