Sustainability and Resiliency Committee Minutes - May 10, 2022
The meeting of the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee was held in the City Commission Chambers at Fargo City Hall at 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 10, 2022.
Present:
John Strand (chair), Fargo City Commissioner
Tim Mahoney, Fargo Mayor
Bruce Grubb, Fargo City Administrator
Nicole Crutchfield, Fargo Director of Planning and Development
Brenda Derrig, City of Fargo Engineer
Bekki Majerus, Fargo Facilities Director
Jennifer Sweatman, At-Large Member of the Public
Casey Steele, At-Large Member of the Public
Greta Gramig, At-Large Member of the Public
Dave Leker, Fargo Park District Representative (Ex-officio)
Paul Matthys, Cass County Electric Cooperative Representative (Ex-officio)
Blake Mikesell (via conference call), Fargo School District Representative
(Ex-officio)
Absent:
Ben Dow, City of Fargo Director of Public Works
Shawn Ouradnik, City of Fargo Inspections Director
Shawn Paschke, Xcel Energy Representative (Ex-officio)
Approval of the Agenda:
Chairman John Strand called the meeting to order. He reviewed the current agenda, which the Committee unanimously approved.
Approval of the Minutes:
Mr. Grubb moved that the minutes from the March 8, 2022 be approved as read. Second by Ms. Steele. There was unanimous approval.
Elendu Textiles Presentation:
Rolland Elendu, co-founder of Elendu Textile, a recycling business in Fargo, said textile recycling is the process of repurposing new, used or overstocked clothing and other textiles, pre-sorting and baling the items and exporting the bales overseas for reuse. He said he started his business in 2017 and since then has recycled more than 8 million pounds of textiles, which is the equivalent of taking more than 9,000 cars off the road. He said his father has been in the textile recycling business for more than 45 years and started his business in Holland when he noticed thrift stores were throwing away textile items that did not sell. His father operated his business in Holland for about five years, he said, then moved the business to West Africa. He said he began working for his father at age 10, and after he graduated from high school in Africa, he moved to the United States and studied computer science at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He worked after college, he said; however, he soon decided he wanted to be an entrepreneur and what better business to start than one he had known since the age of 10. He said after doing some research, he realized Fargo did not have a textile recycling business. In the U.S. alone on an annual basis, he said, upwards of 60 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste is generated and only 15 percent of that is recycled, which presents an environmental issue that has impacts on biodiversity, water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. He said to start, he partnered with thrift stores in the area and later expanded to other area cities. He said 80 percent of what his business is processing is overstocks from thrift stores and other charities; however, they are only processing two loads a month, or about 88,000 pounds, and as exporters, those numbers are low. He is now focusing on spreading awareness and educating people on the importance of textile recycling, he said. It is not that people do not want to recycle textiles, he said; the problem is people do not know how and it is not convenient for them to drive to his facility in North Fargo. He has come up with three strategies to combat the issue, he said, and the first is strategic partnerships with thrift stores, retail stores, property management companies and hotels. The second is partnerships with schools, churches and other large organizations, he said, and the third is a strategic partnership with city sustainability departments to work on a plan to bring an option for recycling to every home. He said he recently went through a program with Emerging Prairie and came up with a mobile solution that might be smarter than trying to put a textile-recycling bin in every home. The mobile solution would allow people to recycle from the comfort of their homes with just a push of a button on their phone, he said. If someone has clothes or other textiles they want to recycle, they could go to the app, which notifies a textile recycler in the area who will pick up the recyclable items. There are textile recyclers in every country and an app would be a great way to measure efforts as far as what is being recycled per city. He said the only way he knows the numbers now is through surveys, which are not precise and cannot be broken down to gender, age or neighborhood. He said some of that data is important as it allows him to understand recycling habits and he can tailor his education around some of those pinpoints or come up with innovative solutions to drive recycling in a particular neighborhood or with a particular demographic.
Mr. Grubb said when the City started its recycling program in the 1990s, there was no curbside recycling and it is still more efficient and economical to set up neighborhood recycling centers, which the City still utilizes today. He said his thought is to offer at the neighborhood recycling centers a textile recycling receptacle along with the yard waste, glass, plastic, cardboard and other receptacles. He said this group could have a follow-up conversation with the City’s recycling coordinator.
Mr. Elendu said Mr. Grubb’s idea would definitely help and make a difference; however, the younger generation is big on convenience, he said, and if it is inconvenient, they are not going to do it. He said there would be some logistics to work out; however, it is better than having to take recyclable textiles to North Fargo.
In response to a question from Mr. Strand who asked the about the impacts textiles have on landfills, Mr. Grubb said the City is currently conducting a waste sort, which is a residential garbage truck which dumps everything on the floor and students go through it and figure out what is recyclable in the pile versus what is not. He said that has not been done for 30 years and it will be interesting to see what the composition of a standard household waste stream is now compared to 30 years ago.
Mr. Elendu said just about everyone has access to commingled recycling, which is a big advantage; however, textile products have never been a focus. The last five years it has come to the forefront, he said, and it takes clothing articles a minimum of 200 years to decompose.
In response to a question from Mr. Strand asking what are some of the uses for recycled textiles, Mr. Elendu said countries that reuse the textiles are mostly Third World countries and the leading importer of used textiles is Sub-Saharan countries in Africa. He said in Africa, 80 percent of clothing worn is used clothing. In the supply and demand chain of textile recycling, he said, the bales are graded and sorted and made into smaller bales, which are supplied to market sellers who take the bales into the market and sell them to an end consumer. He said clothes that have a small amount of damage go to a market where they are repaired, washed and ironed, then hung up to sell. He said 95 percent of the textiles collected at his North Fargo facility are recyclable and about 5 percent is are not. The 5 percent that is not recyclable is exported to a company in Germany, he said, which turns those textiles into insulation and carpeting.
In response to a question from Ms. Crutchfield asking if textiles also includes towels, sheets, blankets and those types of household items, Mr. Elendu said it does.
Mr. Grubb said the City does not collect grass at the curb so anyone who cuts their grass and collects the lawn clippings has no choice but to go to one of the residential recycling drop sites and if they know there is a textile recycling opportunity there, then the City just has to figure out how to have a container for them and figure out how the City gets what is in the container delivered to North Fargo.
Ms. Majerus said the carpeting in the skyway needs to be replaced and the City should look into using recycled carpet.
Mr. Strand said schools would be another opportunity. When elementary children get interested in something, the parents instantly become interested. He said he would follow up with Fargo Public Schools.
Mr. Elendu said Dakota Boys Ranch used to work with his recycling business; however, since COVID-19 they are now working exclusively with a recycling business in Utah.
In response to a question from Commissioner Strand asking about the new Park District facility and is it being built with any energy saving projects, Mr. Leker said it will be built state-of-the-art as much as possible. He said they are not doing any geothermal wells or solar due to the fact that operating costs are not economically beneficial. The landscaping at the new facility will feature more prairie and native grasses, he said, which do not have to be constantly mown.
Mr. Grubb said the National Wildlife Federation's Mayor's Monarch Pledge will be discussed at the next meeting and involves efforts to help sustain the monarch butterfly population by restoring and enhancing habitat. He said the pledge involves selecting three conservation action items for the City of Fargo to work on, then track and report the progress by submitting an annual report. He said the City has selected three initiatives for 2022 and Public Works Director Ben Dow will discuss those initiatives at the next meeting.
Mr. Strand said this is an opportunity to step up awareness and it will be timely as well due to the fact that mosquito season is coming.
Mr. Strand said the next meeting of the SRC will be held in June at a date to be determined.
The meeting adjourned at 3:50 o’clock p.m.