Southeast section of OTC to receive single-sort canisters

Photo by Tom Hintgen
The color of the new county recycling cart will be blue with a yellow lid.

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

In 2023, Otter Tail County received a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to implement single-sort recycling for high population areas in the southeast quadrant of the county which includes Battle Lake, Parkers Prairie and other areas.

The county plans to purchase 3,100 recycling carts that will be distributed at no charge to residents within the service area. To stay on schedule for commencement of collection in January 2026, the county solid waste department will order the carts following approval by the county board of commissioners.

Implementation in the other three quadrants of the county will take place in succeeding years.

The solid waste department has been in communication with Rehrig Pacific Company who specializes in waste and recycling carts. Rehrig is also a member of Sourcewell’s Cooperative Purchasing Program which allows Otter Tail County to secure lower prices for the carts. 

Grants will cover 75 percent of the costs with a local match of 25 percent from county taxpayers. Rehrig will assemble and deliver carts to each resident. Otter Tail County has received a quote of $74 per cart which includes the following

• A QR code on the top of every cart that includes information about

acceptable/unacceptable items to place in carts.

• A bar code on every cart that is unique to each resident’s address.

• Reflective county logo to help haulers (and plow truck drivers) to identify carts in dark/adverse weather conditions.

Functions of the county 

Solid Waste Department 

• Provide convenient disposal options to all county residents through six solid waste transfer stations

• Provide a household hazardous waste program

• Coordinate recycling, composting and collection of agricultural plastic and boat wrap

• Reduce landfilling by sending waste to the Perham Resource Recovery Facility.

• Educate the public on waste reduction, recycling, composting and proper disposal through education and outreach programming.