Fargo collects about 1,443 tons during two 2025 cleanup weeks; officials stress recycling separation

Scott Olsen, director of the City of Fargo Solid Waste Department, told the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee that Fargo collected about 1,443 tons of material during two cleanup-week periods in May 2025 and that the city is continuing efforts to keep recyclables out of the landfill.

Olsen said the cleanup events ran the weeks of May 5–9 and May 12–16 and used roughly 150 people on the street. “This is a collaborative effort between Solid Waste Department and Public Works,” Olsen said. He reported roughly 1,400 tons collected curbside, 45 tons delivered to the residential transfer station during the two weeks, 35 tons of tires and 131 tons of metal recovered from the curb.

The information matters because the volume and composition of what residents place at the curb affects landfill operations, recycling markets and the city’s ability to capture landfill gas. Olsen told committee members the city has added programs over the years, including a year‑round residential transfer station opened in 2021, to divert material from burial.

Olsen described rules and limits for the event: items should be set out the same day as regular recycling collection and no later than 7 a.m.; households are limited to two appliances and four tires; electronics, stains and paints and similar hazardous materials are not collected as part of cleanup week and should be delivered to household hazardous waste facilities. He said brush collection is handled by the Forestry Department during the same two weeks.

Olsen warned that large, unsorted piles create logistical problems and often lead to additional charges. “If it seems excessive, then it probably is,” he said, adding that crews photograph large piles before charging residents and that the city treats charges the same as at other times of year. He urged residents to separate metals and tires from general trash to ease diversion: mixed piles often are loaded by front‑end loaders and sent directly to the landfill, he said, which can spoil otherwise recyclable materials such as wet cardboard.

On disposal at the landfill, Olsen said the city manages an East Campus with heavier traffic (250–300 trucks per day) and a West Campus used to receive some cleanup-week material this year to reduce pressure on main operations. He said the city began using available airspace on the West Campus to keep cleanup-week waste away from its busiest traffic lanes and to take advantage of existing gas collection systems in that area, a change the department expects to continue.

Committee members asked about landfill gas capture and revenues. Olsen said the city posts renewable‑energy information on its website and that closed landfill cells are where gas systems begin to operate effectively; he said the East Campus will see the first formal closures next year as part of ongoing cell construction and that gas‑collection expansion will follow those closures.

Olsen closed by reminding residents that the residential transfer station remains open year round and free to Fargo residents and by encouraging anyone uncertain about disposal options to consult the city website or call solid waste staff.

The topic was presented as an informational update; the committee gave no formal directive or vote on cleanup‑week policy during the meeting.