Beltrami County Starts Curbside Organics in Bemidji and Park Rapids

Jared Davidson, Solid Waste Operations Manager for Beltrami County Solid Waste, appeared on Bemidji Now’s “Trash Talk” on Feb. 19, 2026 to outline a suite of organics and recycling changes that will affect Bemidji and Park Rapids residents. County materials list a Residential Source Separated Organics Program and a Commercial Curbside Source Separated Organics Collection Program, and county content states, “Beltrami and Hubbard counties will soon launch a curbside organics collection program within the city limits of Park Rapids and Bemidji.”

State grant records show Beltrami County secured a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency grant award of $162,278 toward a project with a total cost of $216,596 to add a new recycling drop-off site on the north end of Bemidji. The MPCA description says grant funds would be used “to purchase a compactor and containers for single sort recycling, for site prep, and to educate residents about the new program.” Beltrami County web content separately lists “A new single-sort recycling location is open at 1917 Fert St NW,” and confirms that “Recycling services also remain available at the Bemidji Transfer Station.”

County web pages also note several operational shifts: “Target recycling sites are now permanently closed,” and the site lists “Coming Soon Covered drop off area 4th Quarter 2025.” Brian Olson is identified on county materials as Public Works - Solid Waste Director / Safety Coordinator and is referenced in Solid Waste construction updates on the county page. The county description of the Residential Source Separated Organics Program states, “This program will allow residents to separately collect household food scraps and other compostable materials for proper processing.”

Beltrami’s move follows regional work on source-separated organics. Polk County previously led a multi-county effort, winning an MPCA Environmental Assistance Grant in 2018 to collect SSOM from residents and businesses and soft-launching that program in spring 2019 with an intended full rollout in 2020. Polk also secured bond funding from the 2017 Legislature and completed construction of an SSOM compost facility in 2018, a history cited in regional planning materials as part of broader preparation for statewide rules and the 2024 Waste Packaging Law and Construction and Demolition Debris Landfill Rules expected in 2026.

Other MPCA awards listed alongside Beltrami’s entry include $250,000 to Hubbard County (project cost $312,500), $192,210 to Prairie Lakes Municipal Solid Waste Authority (project cost $328,430) and $178,096 to Becker County (project cost $281,331), illustrating parallel investment across the region in recycling and organics collection infrastructure.

County postings encourage residents to watch official channels for implementation details. The materials supplied by Beltrami County provide program titles, grant figures and site addresses but do not publish specific curbside start dates, collection frequency, fee schedules or processing destination in the text released with the announcement; county officials named in the materials are Jared Davidson and Brian Olson for further operational information.