Ramsey County to open Environmental Service Center in Roseville
Ramsey County to open Environmental Service Center in Roseville
Drop-off site for recycling, food scraps, hazardous waste, and more coming April 2025
Roseville is soon to be home to the new Ramsey County Environmental Service Center, a one-stop shop for recycling, food scraps, electronics, and hazardous waste, among other environmental services.
Rae Eden Frank, public health deputy director at Ramsey County, and Mary Jo McGuire, Ramsey County Commissioner, presented an update about the construction of the Center to the City Council on October 14, 2024.
This new facility, which has been in the works since 2020, will be located at 1700 Kent Street in Roseville, just one block east of the Dale St and Larpenteur Ave intersection. The County chose this site due to its centrality in the County and accessibility for public transit and walking, making it convenient for Ramsey County residents. The land was also already owned by Ramsey County.
In regards to the Center’s location in Roseville, McGuire said during the City Council meeting, “It was phenomenal when they first presented this to us at the County . . . it was amazing!”
Construction is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2024 and the Center will be open to the public in April 2025.
The Environmental Service Center will feature a fully-enclosed drive-through for recycling and disposal services and a collaborative, community space for Ramsey County residents to use. The services are free to Ramsey County residents and will be a permanent location. Previously, Ramsey County was offering mobile household and hazardous waste collection sites that moved to different locations. Those mobile collection sites will no longer be in operation starting in 2025. The other permanent yard waste collection sites in Ramsey County, such as the Dale Street leaf recycling center will remain open.
Not only will this new Environmental Service Center help residents engage in more sustainable practices, the Center itself incorporates sustainable, energy efficient, and eco-friendly features. The building will be using geothermal and solar energy, recycled and sustainably sourced building materials, and will be following environmental standards as set forth by the County, State, and City of Roseville.
The landscaping around the Center will incorporate over 2,300 tons of food scrap compost, native and pollinator gardens, and between 76-100 newly planted native and adaptive trees. Some of the aging, unhealthy trees previously on the land were removed for the construction and some of that wood is being repurposed into the building itself, according to Frank’s presentation to City Council. Compost bins and rain barrels will also be on site for use in educational demonstrations. The site will also offer electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot in accordance with Roseville’s EV charging requirements ordinance.
The Center will host Fix-It clinics and other environmental service programs for County residents and will be ready to host school field trips and organizational groups for educational programs and demonstrations.
Funding for the construction of the building is coming from the County’s solid waste fund balance, which is generated by the County Environmental Charge (CEC). This is a fee added to your trash hauler bill. The fee is 28% for residential customers and 53% for non-residential customers. The County will not be increasing this fee in order to build the Center. Ongoing operations costs will be built into the Environmental Health division budget. (source)
For more information about the Environmental Service Center and construction updates, visit the Ramsey County website here.
In August 2023, the planning team held their third community engagement session to go over the progress so far and to lay out the next steps. That video can be found on YouTube here. To watch the presentation to the Roseville City Council on Oct. 14, 2024, see this video here.
Check out this video created by Ramsey County in 2023 for a brief overview of the services that will be offered at the Environmental Service Center: