Metropolitan subcommittee approves creation of Department of Waste Services, adds quarterly recycling report

At a Metropolitan Council subcommittee meeting, members voted 5-0 to advance an ordinance amending Chapter 10 of the Metropolitan Code of Law to create the Metropolitan Government Department of Waste Services and approved an amendment requiring quarterly recycling reports.

The ordinance, introduced as item BL2025-819, would formally create a centralized Department of Waste Services. The subcommittee also added a requirement that the department produce a quarterly report detailing recycling volumes and contamination rates, expanding the department’s existing annual-report provision to improve transparency about where collected recycling is sent.

The item drew immediate attention from Councilmember Benedick, who raised a six-month complaint about missed recycling pickups on Riverside Drive in District 7. “It's been going on for 6 months,” Benedick said, asking whether the new department would address the problem. Chair Allen (unnamed in the transcript) asked staff to respond.

Director Thurman, representing Waste Services, told the subcommittee the department is working on routing improvements and investigating the Riverside Drive problem. “There's no excuse, and there's none whatsoever. But we are working to address it,” Thurman said, and called on operations lead Eugene McKinney to summarize steps being taken.

Eugene McKinney, assistant director for the newly formed Department of Waste Services, said staff have identified overlapping contractor and city routes at the location and will follow the driver to the site as part of a routing project. “I will be coming to the location on the b week every other week to make sure that that recycling has been picked up,” McKinney said, adding that confirmation of pickup would be provided by the driver, the supervisor and himself. McKinney described a layered oversight approach — operator, supervisor and assistant director — to prevent further missed collections.

Benedick noted the next scheduled pickup would be May 27 and said he planned to be on the route with staff. The subcommittee discussed broader public confidence in recycling programs; Benedick proposed expanding reporting so residents could see how much recycling is collected and where it goes. The amendment to require quarterly recycling-specific reporting passed on a voice vote, recorded as 5 in favor, 0 opposed.

After the amendment was adopted, the subcommittee moved to approve the ordinance as amended; that motion also passed 5-0. Members noted the ordinance still needs two additional votes for final enactment by the full council. The subcommittee chair said the new division should meet at least quarterly to review operations and continue work on routing and service reliability.

No dollar amounts, vendor names, or contract numbers were specified during the discussion, and no individual motion makers or seconds were recorded in the transcript. Other items on the agenda were not discussed during this segment.