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Dakota County Home
Business Recycling & Disposal
 
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​Contact

Environmental Resources
952-891-7557
businessrecycling@co.dakota.mn.us

  • Recycling Requirements for Businesses
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  • Organics & Food Waste at BusinessesCurrently selected
    • Commercial Composting at Businesses
    • Yard Waste from Businesses
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  • Multiunit Property Recycling

Organics Collection

Page Content

If surplus food or food scraps is a large part of your organization's trash, collecting organics will give these materials a new life as food for others, animal feed or compost.

Certain businesses are required to collect food scraps in back-of-house (non-public areas)​. Businesses, organizations and even individuals have a variety of options depending on the type of food waste that is generated:

Collect food scraps for composting

Have your food scraps turned into valuable compost.  Learn how to start or improve organics collection.

Donating edible food to people

Food rescue organizations want your unwanted edible food, so they can serve hungry residents. Businesses, organizations and schools can donate:

  • Prepared menu items and buffet foods
  • Produce, dairy and deli items as long as they were kept at safe temperatures
  • Unused food from catered events
  • Day-old and other baked goods
  • Unlabeled or mislabeled foods
  • Excess produce from community gardens

Food donors are protected by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Act. Organizations that donate food in good faith to a nonprofit are not subject to liability on the condition of the food.

The federal tax code allows a deduction for donated food.  Contact your tax professional to determine its application to your organization.  Qualified commercial taxpayers can deduct the cost to produce the food and half the difference between the cost and full fair market value of the donated food.

Food donation organizations

  • 360 Communities  
  • The Food Group
  • Hastings Family Services
  • Loaves and Fishes
  • The Open Door Pantry
  • Second Harvest Heartland

Collecting food for animals

Food scraps and expired food items that are not suitable for food donation might still be good for animal feed. Schools can contract with a farmer or manufacturer to collect:

  • Food prep waste
  • Plate waste
  • Unpackaged spoiled, outdated or frozen food
  • Food by-products
  • Bakery goods

Farms provide lined plastic carts on wheels that are cleaned each time they are collected. Food sent to farms is cooked to eliminate harmful bacteria.

Food-to-animal organizations

  • Barthold Recycling, 763-444-7447, St. Francis
  • ReConserve (formerly Endres), 651-438-3113, Rosemount
  • Sanimax, 651-451-6858, 505 Hardman Ave. S., South St. Paul
  • Second Harvest Farms, 763-434-9044, Cedar
  • Winona Farm, 507-454-3126, Winona

Helpful resources

  • ConSer​ve – Best practices by the National Restaurant Association
  • Food Recovery: A Legal Guide

Get help

Businesses and organizations can get free container labels, educational resources, funding and technical assistance through County's Business Recycling Program. 

Last updated: 6/18/2025 1:49 PM

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  • 1590 Highway 55
  • Hastings, MN 55033
  • Ph: 651-437-3191
  • Toll free: 800-247-1056
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