Minneapolis yard waste to be composted in Columbus

A 12-acre composting operation is opening soon, and Organic Technologies hopes to process 5,000 tons of yard waste to start.

By MARIA ELENA BACA, Star Tribune

Last update: October 13, 2009 - 4:56 PM

As leaves fly this fall, a Minneapolis-based company hopes to be poised to catch them for eventual landing in Columbus.

Organic Technologies Inc. has received approval -- from the city, Anoka County, the state and the Rice Creek Watershed District -- to begin a commercial yard-waste composting operation on 12 acres it's leasing from Central Landscaping on Lake Drive NE.

The two companies are finishing work on the site and hope to be open soon.

Organic Technologies already accepts yard waste -- grass clippings, dead leaves -- delivered by commercial haulers to its Minneapolis transfer station. When the Columbus site opens, the company will sort the waste arriving in Minneapolis, then deliver the organic matter to the Columbus site to be processed into soil amendment. Resident drop-off will not be available -- yet.

To start, the company hopes to process about 5,000 tons of yard waste, Organic Technologies president Greg Austin said.

Anoka County has two composting facilities: one in Bunker Hills Park and the other in Lino Lakes. Both take drop-offs from residents, but neither serves commercial haulers. Most of those are in the south metro. Until this year, Organic Technologies sold most of its compost to a farmer in Hastings.

The company is finishing the first year of a contract with the city of Minneapolis to provide compost to the city's community gardens. Beyond that, Central Landscaping hopes to purchase some of the compost to resell to municipal customers and to the public, said owner Earl Halley.

The permitting process has taken more than a year, said Austin, who added that the multiple layers of permitting were sometimes frustrating.

Works for both companies

Organic Technologies first approached Columbus officials, and the city sent the company to Central Landscaping.

"The city suggested using somebody who already ran a trucking operation, has the necessary land and driveway and entrances and technology it takes to run trucks in and out, rather than doing it in an open field," Halley said. "We're hoping it works rather well for both companies."

When Austin spoke before the Columbus City Council, he brought representatives from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to help educate people about composting.

"It's in an industrial area, that abuts some residents," he said. "We want them to know we're not going to come in there and make a mess. We want to make sure we're friendly for the community."

Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409

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