Free Yard Waste Drop-Off Discontinued

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Every fall I look forward to getting rid of the pile of yard waste that has accumulated over the spring and summer. This September (2024) I checked the website that hosts the program in Shakopee, MN and found that they have discontinued the program! What the hell, now the only option is to pay them to take my brush pile! You can’t burn brush within the city limits and the garbage collector wants the brush tied up in neat bundles. The price for a carload is $10, for a small trailer or truck bed its $20, and for a large trailer its $25. My brush pile usually requires two trips to the disposal facility, which will now cost me $20 per trip, or $40 total. There is a chance that they might consider my SUV a carload and only charge me $10 per trip, which would be more reasonable, but far from free.

The processing facility is moving to a new location, and this would have been the last year to drop-off yard waste at the old location. From the sound of the blog post, the recycling facility is blaming the city for discontinuing the program. The residents of Shakopee should drop our yard waste in front of city hall to send them a message. But I’m sure they would give us a fine or put us in jail. Things like this just make living in a city more difficult. There isn’t anything you can dispose of now without first paying a fee of some kind. I imagine there are a lot of homes that have old electronics, tires, and old furniture sitting around because people can’t afford the disposal fees. If I ever have to sell my home, I’m going to have to include several hundred dollars in fees to get rid of the old stuff that has accumulated over the years. The city needs to make this process cheaper and more convenient than having an annual clean sweep day. And now they have made things even worse by eliminating the free yard waste program!

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