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Committee reviews bill to reward material recovery from waste; environmental groups raise concerns
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Summary
House File 31‑72 would create a tiered rebate program to encourage recovery of recyclables from waste streams and reduce landfilling; waste‑management groups supported the performance incentives while recycling and reuse advocates warned about incentives for incineration ash and urged investment upstream in reuse and composting.
Chair Anderson presented House File 31‑72, a targeted, performance‑based rebate program designed to increase material recovery from municipal solid‑waste and RDF facilities.
Sam Holland, chair of the Minnesota Resource Recovery Association, told the committee the program is a technology‑neutral way to encourage recovery and said rebates would only pay for verified recovered material. "If there's no recovery, there's no rebate," Holland said, adding the approach aligns with the state's waste‑hierarchy goals to maximize reuse and reduce landfill disposal.
Environmental and reuse organizations urged caution. Lucy Mullaney, vice president of policy at Eureka Recycling, said directing limited Solid Waste Management Tax funds to facilities that manage waste after disposal risks diverting scarce public dollars from upstream reduction, reuse and community composting. Mullaney and Emily Barker (REUSE Minnesota) expressed particular concern about payments tied to incinerator ash volumes, warning that using tax dollars to clean or repurpose ash could create a financial incentive to burn rather than reduce waste.
Members questioned how the per‑ton rates were chosen and whether incentives would change operator behavior. House staff said the fiscal estimate is based on current solid‑waste tax collections and that regulatory changes would be considered separately. Chair Anderson moved the bill to be laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.
