Dakota County, MN Trash & Recycling: Mandatory Organics Recycling (2026)
Key Facts
- Grocery/food distributors deadline
- January 1, 2022
- Hospitals/schools deadline
- January 1, 2023
- Restaurants/hotels/venues deadline
- January 1, 2024
- Annual report due
- January 31 each year
- Garbage disposal limit
- Only 'incidental amounts' allowed
- Governing section
- Ordinance 110, Sec. 16.04
Summary
Dakota County phases in mandatory food-scrap separation for large commercial generators on a rolling schedule: grocery stores and food distributors by 2022, hospitals and schools by 2023, and restaurants, hotels and event centers by 2024, all under Ordinance 110's organics requirement.
A. Property owners, managers, and event sponsors of the following large commercial organics generators shall comply with this section: 1. By January 1, 2022, Food wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers; grocery stores. 2. By January 1, 2023, Hospitals; schools, colleges and universities with dining services. 3. By January 1, 2024, Office buildings with dining services; hotels; farmers markets; food shelves and food banks; nursing and residential care facilities; restaurants; shopping centers; airports; golf clubs and country clubs; public/rentable commissaries or shared use commercial kitchens; sports and event centers; caterers; large event venues with organics; other businesses identified by the Department. B. Large commercial organics generators shall: 1. Ensure back-of-house organics are separated from other solid waste. Only incidental amounts of organics shall be disposed of in a garbage disposal.
Full Breakdown
04 of Dakota County's Solid Waste Management Ordinance No. 110 names three waves of 'large commercial organics generators' required to separate food waste from their regular trash. By January 1, 2022, the requirement reached food wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers and grocery stores. By January 1, 2023, it extended to hospitals and schools, colleges and universities with dining services. By January 1, 2024, it swept in the largest group: office buildings with dining services, hotels, farmers markets, food shelves and food banks, nursing and residential care facilities, restaurants, shopping centers, airports, golf and country clubs, shared-use commercial kitchens, sports and event centers, caterers, and large event venues with organics, plus any other business the county's department later designates.
05; and file a completed annual report with the department by January 31 of each year. 02's recycling requirements for ordinary commercial generators, both of which took effect earlier, in 2020. A caterer or restaurant that mixes food scraps into its regular trash after its 2024 deadline is out of compliance even if its recycling program is otherwise in order, because the organics-separation duty is a freestanding requirement layered on top of, not folded into, the county's general commercial recycling rule.
Violations & Fines
Large commercial organics generators that fail to separate back-of-house food waste, skip the required annual report, or ignore the Section 16.05 labeling and messaging duties are subject to Dakota County's general ordinance enforcement, including compliance orders and referral for civil penalties administered by the Environmental Resources Department. Missing the January 31 annual report establishes noncompliance and can trigger the county's own corrective program at the generator's cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which businesses must separate food waste in Dakota County?
Can a covered business still use a garbage disposal for food scraps?
What paperwork does the organics rule require?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Dakota County
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