Hennepin County Leverages HDR-Gathered Feedback For Waste Planning

Hennepin County, Minnesota’s largest county by population, is working toward a more circular economy, valuing raw materials and prioritizing materials reuse. The county wanted to assess public opinion and establish a baseline level of support for needed policy actions to work toward that goal. 

HDR partnered with Hennepin County to gather resident feedback, designing a survey that spanned several topics, from food waste to waste reduction to drop-off facility use. The American Public Works Association covered the project and results in a recent article “How Hennepin County is using public feedback to inform waste management planning.”

Some of the key discoveries include: 

• Recycling drop-offs are used infrequently by residents, if at all. Lower-income residents were more likely to say they never use drop-off locations compared to higher-income residents.
• 80% of residents support requiring to-go containers to be recyclable or compostable.
• Participation in organics recycling differs across the county, and those who participate in curbside organics recycling generally have positive feelings about the program. 

These correlated with several strategies outlined in the waste management plan, which was released in October 2024.