This story was originally published by FOX17 for "Morning Mix".
Morning Mix has partnered with the Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes Energy to talk about recycling. However, this goes way beyond paper and plastics.
Comprenew is a non-profit certified electronic recycler. They are able to take apart things like cellphones, computers, televisions and beyond, refurbish what they can and properly dispose of what they can't. If a computer lands in their hands, they will make sure all of the data is removed, too. You can imagine this is particularly important when they are dealing with a corporate client.
Unfortunately, Michigan's recycling rate is about 15 percent, putting us at the lowest for the Great Lakes region. The goal is to increase that number to 30 percent by 2025. EGLE is doing this with their campaign lead by the Recycle Raccoon Squad.
Along with keeping harmful items out of the landfills, Comprenew helps remove employment barriers. An estimate 65 percent of their workforce has some type of barrier. If you would like to learn more about Comprenew, visit their website comprenew.org