Dakota County Ordinance 110 Solid Waste Management requires commercial property owners, managers and event sponsors — including businesses, schools, municipalities, multifamily properties, event venues and community festivals —to have a visible and legible label on each recycling, organics (if collected) and trash container and that labels must be in accordance with the county standards below. Labels must be replaced if they become damaged, faded, illegible or conflict with county standards.
Labels are intended to be an educational tool to help employees, customers and others properly sort waste. Labels must be visible at all times. Recommendations for placing labels on containers:
- Ensure containers are clean and dry before placing labels.
- Place labels on container lids and all visible sides of containers in case they get turned around.
- Place labels on the container where they will not be covered by a bag liner.
Requirements for standardized labels
Dakota County developed recycling, organics and trash labels that meet Ordinance 110 requirements for standardized solid waste abatement messaging.
Order labels: Free standardized recycling, organics and trash labels are available to order in a variety of sizes:
Download labels: Download standardized recycling, organics and trash labels. Labels are available in a variety of sizes. Email environ@co.dakota.mn.us to request label PDFs or design files for download.
Make your own labels: Businesses can make their own labels by following the requirements below for terminology, color and images to indicate the material accepted. All custom labels must be approved by the county prior to use. Send approval requests with label examples to jon.buck@co.dakota.mn.us.
Recycling label: Minimum requirements
1. Label Title: Recycle or Recycling
Label subtitles (optional):
- Paper and Cardboard
- Cartons
- Cans
- Glass
- Plastics
2. Label color: Blue (prefer dark blue), such as for the border and label title area
3. Label images: Labels must include:
Labels on containers that collect recyclables separately (e.g., cardboard only, aluminum cans only) only need an image(s) of the material collected.
4. Material preparation statement, such as: Empty and dry items, flatten boxes, empty liquids, no food (prefer at the bottom of the label).
Trash label: Minimum requirements
1. Label title: Trash
2. Label Color: Gray or black, such as for the border and label title area
3. Images: Trash labels do not need to have images, but businesses can use 
county standardized images of items that belong in the trash.
Organics label: Minimum requirements
1. Label title: Organics
Subtitle (optional): Food Scraps
2. Label color: Green, such as for the border and label title area
3. Images that indicate organics items collected (prefer on a white background so images are easily visible): Businesses can use county standardized food scraps images or use their own images.