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Grants Issued to Help Michigan Improve Recycling Infrastructure
Grants totaling $1.23 million aim to improve and expand recycling programs in eight Lower Peninsula counties.
4 Min Read
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) recently announced infrastructure grants totaling $1.23 million that will help improve and expand recycling programs in eight Lower Peninsula counties.
The grants will also support the new Know It Before You Throw It campaign, EGLE’s first-ever statewide effort to better inform Michiganders of what can and cannot be recycled and how to recycle correctly.
“We want to inspire and inform more people than ever before in Michigan about how to recycle better and more frequently,” said EGLE Director Liesl Clark in a statement. “Know It Before You Throw It is a first-of-its-kind campaign for Michigan that offers multiple benefits. Increasing recycling and improving the quality of materials we’re recycling saves energy, reduces water use, decreases greenhouse gases, conserves resources and translates into local jobs.”
EGLE’s goal is to grow awareness of cleaner recycling practices to reduce the amount of contaminated materials improperly going into recycling bins. The state also wants to double Michigan’s recycling rate to 30 percent by 2025 and ultimately reach 45 percent annually. Michigan’s current 15 percent recycling rate is the lowest in the Great Lakes region and ranks among the nation’s lowest.
Achieving EGLE’s 30 percent recycling goal would produce a statewide total of as many as 12,986 jobs, which translates into an economic impact of up to $300 million annually, according to findings from the “Expanding Recycling in Michigan Report” prepared for the Michigan Recycling Partnership.
The EGLE grants announced go to:
City of Bay City ($40,632) to establish an enhanced single stream recycling program and open a drop-off collection site for hard-to-recycle items that will serve all of Bay County.
Branch County Conservation District ($35,400) to improve recycling collection capacity in the county through a public-private partnership between the Conservation District and the Biz Aid LLC materials recovery facility.
City of Flint ($196,000) to enhance the processing capacity of the anaerobic digester facility at its wastewater treatment plant, which is operated through a collaboration with BioWorks Energy LLC.
Forgotten Harvest ($19,259) to purchase collection infrastructure that will improve efficiency at the Oak Park-based food, rescue and distribution center that serves Oakland County and metro Detroit residents.
Isabella County ($78,902) to enhance its drop-off recycling program by redesigning and relocating drop-off recycling sites across the county. The aim is to provide longer operating hours and more access to multifamily buildings. The proposed new locations will be in higher-traffic areas that offer greater access to both Isabella County residents and residents in rural areas of bordering counties.
Cities of Lansing/East Lansing ($480,000) to help Ingham County’s two largest municipalities purchase a recycling collection truck that will address anticipated collection route increases from a new materials recovery facility being built in central Lansing in 2019-20. The partnership effort is expected to save money while boosting conservation. The new recycling processing center will eliminate each city’s need to ship recyclables nearly 100 miles east on I-96 to Wayne County. The project also offers the potential for additional central Michigan communities to make the switch and lower their hauling costs. Currently, recycling haulers’ only options are to go to Grand Rapids or Traverse City if not the Detroit area.
Orion Township ($239,836) to support the Oakland County community’s plan to shift from subscription-based curbside recycling service to single-hauler, cart-based curbside recycling for all township residents.
Sanilac County ($129,836) to expand its recycling collection program by adding storage that will enable staff to accept recyclable materials that are not being collected and increase recycling collection locations throughout the county.
Wayne County Airport Authority ($10,400) to set up liquid disposal and bottle collection stations at the Detroit Metro Airport North Terminal Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. Passengers may not take liquids through the checkpoints, and each year 100 tons of waste are disposed from these locations that could be diverted from landfills if properly recycled.
These grants are among 26 grants totaling more than $5.96 million that EGLE is allocating in 2019 to improve recycling infrastructure and support development of emerging and new marketplace opportunities for recyclable materials in 16 counties covering every region of the state.
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