Michigan sets record recycling rate; officials announce $5M to expand access

The state of Michigan historically has been at the bottom when it comes to recycling in the Great Lakes Region, but this week, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) released new data showing the state has increased its recycling rate for the third consecutive year and is now at more than 23 percent.

EGLE analysis shows the Michigan recycling rate increasing from 14.25 percent before 2019 to 21 percent last year and now more than 23 percent, and officials forecast that at this current pace, the state is on track to reach its goal of a 30 percent recycling rate by 2029.

According to the most recent figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the national recycling rate currently is 32 percent with a goal to increase that number to 50 percent by 2030.

“When Michiganders recycle cans and bottles, they get money back in their pockets and support Michigan businesses with the materials they need,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says. “We are becoming leaders on recycling and we must continue getting better.”

Officials credit the increased recycling rate to the fact that more Michigan residents have access to recycling than ever before.

According to the latest EGLE data, Michigan residents recycled more than 330,000 tons of paper and paper products during fiscal year 2023, more than 237,000 tons of metal, 67,000 tons of glass and more than 58,000 tons of plastic and plastic products, putting the total amount of residential recycled materials for fiscal year 2023 at 703,369 tons. That exceeds the record set in 2022 by more than 82,000 tons.

RELATED: Michigan awards $2M in scrap tire grants

EGLE also highlights additional findings from its analysis, including:

• Recycling in Michigan supports 72,500 jobs and contributes more than $17 billion a year to the state’s total economic output, according to EGLE’s NextCycle Michigan initiative.
• EGLE and The Recycling Partnership, the Washington-based national recycling nonprofit organization, have introduced more than 245,000 new curbside recycling carts in over 30 communities statewide and serving a combined population of more than 1 million residents, with plans to introduce an additional 88,000 carts in four communities this year.
• Approximately 80 percent of Michigan residents report taking action and changing their recycling behavior for the better following EGLE’s 2019 launch of its “Know it Before You Throw it” educational campaign, officials say.

To further expand recycling access in the state, EGLE also has announced a combined total of more than $5 million in infrastructure grants to support recycling projects on tap in metro Detroit, Lansing, Sterling Heights, Madison Heights and Genesee, Oakland, Isabella, Van Buren and Marquette counties.

The largest projects include:

• A collaboration between EGLE and the Michigan Grocers Association to boost recycling best practices in metro Detroit locations through an in-store educational campaign.
• Genesee County will receive a $900,000 grant to build a recycling drop-off facility that will provide access to approximately 170,000 households to drop off paper products, cardboard, plastic and household hazardous waste and electronics.
• Marquette County will receive a $900,000 grant to expand its processing capacity at its material recovery facility (MRF). According to EGLE, the Upper Peninsula MRF processes about 8,500 tons annually, and this project will include the construction of additional tipping floor space for inbound recyclables from counties across the Upper Peninsula.
• Isabella County will receive a $900,000 grant to expand and update its existing MRF that currently is designed to process 7 tons an hour. EGLE says the facility needs to be rebuilt because of the changing density and composition of recyclables and to enable single-stream collection and processing for the region. A new single-stream sort system will be installed, and EGLE notes this is the first step toward quadrupling the site’s total capacity.
• The city of Sterling Heights will receive a $527,000 grant to support its transition from optional, subscription-based curbside recycled to universal curbside recycling. Sterling Heights has approximately 41,500 residential collection points and about 8,700 households currently participate in subscription-based curbside collection.
• Van Buren County will receive a $500,000 grant to enable the Van Buren Conservation District to partner with eight of the district’s 11 transfer station drop-off centers to increase recycling services, and the project will focus on eight infrastructure upgrades to increase capacity, efficiency, safety and services.
• The city of Madison Heights will receive a $403,000 grant to roll out a communitywide recycling/trash cart program that will serve the city’s 30,000 residents and 9,600 households.
• The city of Lansing will receive a $300,000 grant to help fund the purchases of a recycling truck, dumpster containers, fleet management software and to hire a marketing firm to enhance commercial and multifamily recycling. EGLE says the grant will allow the city to compete for commercial customers that require a container larger than the 96-gallon curb carts currently in use. City officials also say the project will help fill a “market niche” and position the city to offer a comprehensive suite of services that will increase tonnage, participation, access and improve diversion.
• The Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County was awarded a $140,000 grant to help buy new robotic sorting equipment to automate sorting at its MRF in Southfield, Michigan. EGLE says the new technology will address “chronic staffing shortages and the rising cost of temporary labor” as well as improve workplace safety and enable staff to more efficiently process residential recyclables. The department also says the installation of robotics and accompanying analytics will allow for “dramatically improved” material tracking and provide metrics to inform and improve MRF operations.

“Recycling is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do,” EGLE Director Phil Roos says.

“Recycling properly saves Michigan taxpayers money by increasing the value of recycled materials, supporting Michigan jobs and improving the health of the environment. We know Michiganders want to recycle the right way, and through our ‘Know It Before You Throw It” campaign and recycling infrastructure investments, we are providing them with the tools to do just that.”