Category: Quick Reads

Stories that take three minutes or less to read.

Energize Your Recycling Know-How

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published by WDIV for "Live in the D."

More people are recycling in Michigan and across the country. Curbside pickup is a great convenience, but are you recycling the correct way? “Live in the D” host Jason Carr spoke with Sara Matthews, with EGLE, about how to recycle something that often brings up a lot of questions: batteries. Matthews explained that Battery Solutions, North America’s largest handler of post-consumer batteries for recycling, also processes alkaline at their location in Wixom, Michigan. Some batteries may release chemicals when they are pressed or cracked, so putting them in a garbage bin isn’t the safest option.

Recycling batteries is the best way to keep the environment safe and, Matthews says, the steel can go back into the steel market place to make new items like a kitchen sinks or even an airplane. If the battery has magnesium, it can be used to make fertilizer.

Michigan aims to double recycling rate by 2025

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published by WOOD-TV for "eightWest".

So many events are now using completely recyclable cups and containers.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is commending Fabri-Kal and their recycling efforts. Fabri-Kal is a leading provider of plastic foodservice and custom thermoformed packaging solutions

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy campaign, “Know It Before You Throw It,” is designed to educate and encourage people to recycle. The hope is to double the state’s recycling rate by 2025.

Comprenew prevents electronic items from ending up in landfills

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

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

Recycling 101 – how to do it correctly

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published by WOOD-TV for "eightWest".

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – This is truly a time of year filled with “stuff”, we give and receive over the holidays. We’re also purging to make space and even trying to start the New Year on an organized note and recycling can play a big role in all that!

Today, we’re going to focus on recycling clothing and household items, as part of big effort underway by Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

The goal is to encourage folks to recycle, and show how they can recycle better, take a look!

Goodwill is a big part of that kind of recycling and does so much good in our community and helps others to recycle. You can learn more about drop off their locations, and what they do by visiting their website.

If you’d like to get tips on recycling all types of materials or learn more about the campaign by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, visit their website. And it’s always important to check with your local trash hauler, because the rules for recycling can be a bit different depending on where you live.

Learn the rules for recycling batteries

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published on ClickonDetroit.com/live-in-the-d.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has launched a “Know It Before You Throw It” campaign to help consumers recycle more.

One item that people struggle to recycle is batteries.

“Live in the D” host Tati Amare spoke to Amy Lafferty from EGLE and Danielle Spalding from Battery Solutions to review the right way to recycle batteries instead of simply throwing them away.

Lafferty said that batteries are not commonly accepted curbside, but you should check with your local services.

Battery Solutions is one place that takes any battery and recycles it for you.

You can order a battery recycling pail that you keep in your home until it’s full, and then you mail it back so your batteries can be recycled safely.

If the battery has lithium written on it, or it is over 9 volts, you should tape each end before putting it in the pail.

If you want to learn more about recycling your batteries, visit https://www.call2recycle.org/locator/.

Paper recycling featuring Paper McKay

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published by WSYM for "Morning Blend".

Jill Greenberg, Spokeswoman, and Paper McKay, Recycling Raccoon, Michigan Dept of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy, talk about their Know It Before You Throw It initiative and how they are trying to educate the public about the benefits of recycling and exactly what can be recycled. For more information, please visit www.recyclingracoons.org .

Want to check out other Morning Blend segments? Visit the FOX47News Website .

Plastic recycling 101

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published by WOOD-TV for "eightWest".

For all the great natural resources we have in Michigan, it might surprise you to know, our state is among one of the lowest recycling states in the nation! Recycling has a wide range of environmental and economic benefits, plus there are so many materials that can be recycled like metal, paper, and plastic. Today, we’re going to focus on recycling plastic, how to do it and how some really useful products are being made locally from recycled plastic.

We all know recycling is good for the environment but many people don’t realize the number of local jobs that come from recycling, more than landfills.

For instance, Padnos has more than 700 team members at locations throughout the state and they offer extensive training and benefits like helping employees pay for a large portion of their college tuition.  And lots of products are made from recycled plastic — automotive parts, office chairs, recycling bins, that’s a real bonus too!

To learn more about Padnos, you can visit padnos.com.

Learn how this company uses recycled plastic to make high-quality products

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published by FOX17 for "Morning Mix".

Plastic. It's in cars, refrigerators, furniture, computers and so many other objects we encounter in our everyday lives.

Recycling plastic is not only important, it has become a competitive market. Getting the best quality recyclable material helps local companies, like Davidson Plyforms, compete.

Todd took a trip to Davidson Plyforms to see what happens to the plastic put in the recycling bin and to learn more about Michigan's efforts to increase the amount the community recycles.

Learn more about Davidson Plyforms and how they're taking advantage of recycled materials on their website.

Also, learn more about the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy campaign and get more tips and information on recycling, visit recyclingraccoons.org.

Not all paper is recyclable – learn how to recognize the trash

Posted on by Recycling Raccoons

This story was originally published by WDIV Channel 4 for Live in the D.

The holidays are approaching us fast! If you plan to wrap gifts or open gifts there will be lots of paper involved. But not all paper is recyclable. The Michigan Department of Environmental, Great Lakes & Energy or EGLE is aimed at encouraging people to recycle the right way and have some guidelines to share about recycling paper.

Host, Jason Carr had a chat with Hugh McDiarmid with EGLE and Natalie Jakub with Green Living Science about what type of paper is recyclable. Types of paper like receipts and wrapping paper cannot be recycled. Things to look out for are glossy or wax coating paper that must be thrown in the trash.

Watch this video to learn what types of paper can be recycled.

For more information about recycling, visit recyclingraccoons.org. To learn more about Green Living Science programs or volunteer opportunities visit greenlivingscience.org.

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