Freedom to Breathe - Community Visioning Session about Zero Waste and HERC Register

Date and Time:
Sun, Apr 12, 2026; 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM  (Central)

Organized By: North Star Chapter

Location: 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401, USA

Map | Directions

Join us for a community panel of experts on zero waste, facilitated discussion on zero waste future in Hennepin County, and more! Hear from community members who are participating in the Hunger Strike calling for the HERC to close. 

• Hear from a panel of zero waste experts
• Join community discussion on a zero waste future and alternatives to burning trash in Hennepin County
• Learn from Sierra Club teams and other organizations focused on Zero Waste and nontoxic solutions (e.g., shutting down the Hennepin County trash burner).

Since the most recent Hennepin County Board Meeting, Hennepin County Commissioners have not been able to meet the requests of so many leaders and members, especially Northside residents who shared with County Commissioners why it is essential they shut down the HERC trash burner by 2028. We still need a vote for HERC closure by December 2027. We still need a closure and future plan that’s driven by and for the community. 

Over the past two years, incredible community members like you have been organizing in partnership with the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table and Zero Burn Coalition to keep leaders accountable to their 2023 resolution to make a plan for HERC closure between 2028 and 2040. We need a vote for HERC closure by December 2027. We are pushing for the 2028 date because each day the HERC operates is another day of toxic emissions in our lungs. 

Please join us for an upcoming community visioning session to imagine what comes after the HERC trash incinerator. In collaboration with the Zero Burn Coalition, we want to ask you about some of the below key ideas. Can you make it to the upcoming post-HERC community visioning session on Sunday, April 12th at 3:00 PM-4:30 PM at the Minneapolis Central Library?  

Date: Sunday, April 12, 2026 

Time: 3:00 PM-4:30 PM 

Location: Minneapolis Central Library (300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401)  

Registration: RSVP here! 

For 36 years, the HERC has been under constant public scrutiny while continuing to operate. From the beginning, policymakers, environmental advocates, and frontline communities of Northside Minneapolis have opposed it, warning of worsening air quality and disproportionate harm to nearby environmental justice communities, while the County continues to dismiss these concerns as negligible by relying on permits and risk assessments that underestimate the facility’s true emissions. Almost three decades later, we now know that burning waste is not the pathway toward a zero-waste future.

Knowing this history, it was an honor to stand with frontline communities. We are carrying forward the legacy of past advocates and are building a strong coalition calling for HERC’s closure. We are grateful to the Zero Burn Coalition for the opportunity to collaborate with other organizations and leaders that want to see the trash incinerator closed and to open a realistic zero waste future in Hennepin County. We need your input on post-HERC incinerator community visioning on Sunday, April 12th from 3:00 PM-4:30 PM at the Minneapolis Central Library. 

• We can no longer center the waste hierarchy. We want to replace HERC with something that focuses on the top of the waste hierarchy, not the bottom. This means building out infrastructure and programs that support the rethinking of products and designs to avoid creating waste. We need a real reduction. 
• We must minimize transportation and air pollution. The HERC has contributed to worse health outcomes in Minneapolis due to the constant air pollution from incineration. It acts as a twin pollution next to transportation pollution for residents in Minneapolis and northern suburbs.   
• We need a decentralized vision for managing waste. A zero waste future that centers environmental justice will mean managing waste at the local level rather than sending all of our waste to giant facilities in central locations. This helps mitigate the environmental burden on any one community and ensures that we all do our part in reducing and managing waste. 
• We must incorporate other aspects of sustainability. A community vision must be a model of sustainability that not only advances zero waste but also showcases meaningful sustainability. 

The future of zero waste in our county depends on us. We need healthier and more just communities.