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. Garbage tTUcks malce up one ofthe oldest, least fuel efficient, noisiest and most . polluting fleets of vehicles in the United States. Governments have a role to play in motivating conversion to quieter, cleaner trucks. . There are potential hazards associated with all means of municipal solid waste disposal. Under the Minnesota Waste Management Act, processing of waste for fuel (incineration) is preferred to landfilling. . FederaJ regulation has imposed major improvements in landfills, but land for these facilities is becoming harder to find. . Refuse-derived fuel provides much more electric power than landfill gas and greatly reduces the volume of waste that must be stored at the end. . In Ramsey County, haulers are contracted until 2007 to take all or part of the waste they pick up to the Resource Recovery Facility in Newport. o In Falcon Height half the licensed haulers have the "all waste" contract and haIfhave the "some waste" contract. o The only way for the City to be sure that all waste goes to the RRF, especially after 2007, is to implement organized collection. . The RamseyIWashington County public collection study, among others, documents major consolidation in the waste hauling industry since 1995, with three major national corporations controlling two thirds of the business. o Open collection has not stopped small local companies from going out of business or being bought out by large companies; in fact the process has accelerated. . o Continued consolidation of the industry in the future could leave residents with few choices, little power in the market place and no voice in environmental choices about municipal solid waste . Study after study has emphasized the importance of these issues and recommended organized collection as the option that best serves the interest of the community, even in cities and counties that have not, in the end, made that choice. The licensed refuse haulers of Falcon Heights, through their representative, have proposed that Falcon Heights keep the present open collection system. They have offered some voluntary accommodations to provide some mitigation of the impact of multiple trucks on City streets. They have also expressed willingness to work with the City to facilitate public education on solid waste issues. If adopted, these measures would be formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by all parties. From the fmdings of its study reported here, the Solid Waste Commission concludes that the interests of City residents would be better served in the long term by implementing organized collection. The Commission recommends proceeding with implementation of organized collection under the terms of Minnesota Statue 115A.94 . City of Falcon Heights Final Report on Organized Collection October 13, 2004 4