Olmsted County Board Set to Approve $10 Million Waste Facility

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Olmsted County Board will be asked Tuesday to approve construction contracts for a new Materials Recovery Facility adjacent to the Olmsted County Waste-to-Energy Facility in southeast Rochester.

Legislation approved during the 2023 session of the Minnesota Legislature appropriated $10 million for the project. The County Board is being asked to approve three separate contracts totaling just over $10.3 million, with the largest being a general construction contract for about $6.6 million to Kraus-Anderson Construction.

State Funding Approved 3 Years Ago

Ryan Mechanical submitted the low bid for mechanical systems at about $2.1 million, and staff is recommending the electrical systems contract be awarded to McMartin Electric for just under $1.6 million.

The Olmsted County website describes the planned Materials Recovery Facility as a high-tech operation that uses people and machines to sort recyclable items collected by waste haulers or brought to the Waste-to-Energy Facility for disposal. Household recyclables collected by local waste haulers are currently loaded into trucks and shipped to a facility in the Twin Cities for sorting.

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Delay Need For Expanding Waste-to-Energy-Facility

Olmsted County plans to use the new Materials Recovery Facility to “remove recyclable and noncombustible materials from the waste stream to increase recycling and extend the life of the Waste-to-Energy Facility.” The county website states that it will increase the amount of recyclable materials recovered while also improving the reliability of the Waste-to-Energy Facility, which should reduce operational costs and delay the need for a costly expansion.

Operates in 2 Modes

The plan calls for the construction of a 45,000-square-foot building just south of the Waste-to-Energy Facility. It is designed to run in two modes. According to the project website, the municipal solid waste mode will be used to remove glass, metal, and other materials that are not suitable for use as fuel for the Waste-to-Energy Facility. The other mode will sort recyclables collected by waste haulers.

Construction of the new facility is expected to begin this spring, and it is scheduled to become operational sometime next year.