Category: Recycling Innovation

Michiganders recycled 82,000 tons more than in the previous year, and EGLE research finds Michigan is now on track to achieve state’s goal of 30% recycling rate by 2029

EGLE also announces more than $5 million in new infrastructure grants to boost recycling in metro Detroit, Genesee County, Sterling Heights, Madison Heights, Lansing, Marquette County, Isabella County, Van Buren County and nine Southwest Oakland County communities

LANSING, Mich. — The recycling rate in the Great Lakes State is at a record high for the third consecutive year, according to a new analysis of data that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced today.

The EGLE research shows Michigan has steadily increased its recycling rate from what was historically the lowest in the Great Lakes region. Michigan’s recycling rate has risen from 14.25% before 2019 to 21% last year and over 23% now. EGLE officials forecast that at its current pace of improvement, Michigan is on track to achieve the state’s goal of a 30% recycling rate by 2029.

“Recycling helps us keep Michigan beautiful,” said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

“When Michiganders recycle cans and bottles, they get money back in their pockets and support Michigan businesses with the materials they need,” Gov. Whitmer said. “We are becoming leaders on recycling and we must continue getting better. My administration is committed to working with EGLE to promote recycling by making it easier and more effective. Let’s work together to protect our natural resources and keep Michigan beautiful.”

EGLE officials attribute the recycling rate surge to the fact that more Michiganders than ever have access to recycling services.

Michiganders recycled more than 330,000 tons of paper and paper products during fiscal year 2023, over 237,000 tons of metals, more than 67,000 tons of glass, and over 58,000 tons of plastics and plastic products. The total amount of residential recycled materials reported for FY 2023 was 703,369 tons — exceeding the record set the year before by more than 82,000 tons. 

This equates to every person in Michigan over a 12-month span recycling 140 pounds of cardboard boxes, milk cartons, soup cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, food waste and other recyclable materials,  EGLE researchers found.

Additional highlights from the new EGLE data include:

• The improved recycling performance is helping Michigan advance the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, commissioned by Gov. Whitmer as a broad-based road map to a sustainable, prosperous, healthy, equitable, carbon-neutral Michigan economy by 2050. Carbon neutrality is the global science-based benchmark for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the most devastating and costly impacts of climate change.
• Recycling in Michigan supports 72,500 jobs and contributes more than $17 billion a year to the state’s total economic output, according to an analysis by EGLE’s NextCycle Michigan Initiative.
• EGLE and national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership together have rolled out more than 245,000 new curbside recycling carts in over 30 communities statewide serving a combined population of over 1 million Michiganders, with plans to introduce an additional 88,000 new carts in 2024 in four Michigan communities.
• 80% of Michiganders report taking action and changing their recycling behavior for the better following EGLE’s 2019 launch of the national award-winning “Know It Before You Throw It” recycling education campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoon Squad.

To further expand recycling access in Michigan, EGLE also announced today a combined total of more than $5 million in infrastructure grants that will help support recycling projects on tap in metro Detroit, Genesee County, Lansing, Southwest Oakland County, Isabella County, Van Buren County, Marquette County, Sterling Heights in Oakland County and Madison Heights in Macomb County.  

The largest projects include:

• A first-of-its-kind EGLE collaboration with Michigan grocers to boost recycling best practices at metro Detroit locations through an in-store education campaign featuring Recycling Raccoon mascots who will offer tips from promotion inserts on shelves in the canned goods sections.
• Genesee County is receiving an EGLE grant of $900,000 to build a recycling dropoff facility that will provide access to its approximately 170,000 households as a site to collect paper, cardboard, plastic and items like household hazardous waste and electronics. This facility will be free and open to Genesee County residents weekly. Currently, there is no drop-off recycling center in Genesee County, leading to a large gap in services for the community. By opening a drop-off site, the facility will offer convenience to residents since it will be more accessible and fill a service gap for those who do not have curbside recycling.
• Marquette County is receiving a $900,000 EGLE grant to expand its processing capacity at its Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Currently, the Upper Peninsula MRF processes about 8,500 tons annually, but Marquette County Solid Waste Management Authority officials sayadditional tipping floor space to accommodate projected increases in future tons delivered. The project will include construction of additional tipping floor space for inbound recyclables from counties across the UP.
• Isabella County is receiving an EGLE grant of $900,000 to expand and upgrade its existing MRF that is currently designed to process 7 tons per hour. The facility needs to be rebuilt because of the changing density and composition of recyclable materials and to enable single-stream collection and processing for the region. The processing capability needs to be increased and a new single-stream sort system will need to be built.  This is the first step in upgrading the entire facility to a single-stream processing capability and quadrupling its total capacity.
• The City of Sterling Heights is receiving a $527,000 EGLE grant to support its transition from optional subscription-based curbside recycling to universal curbside recycling. Sterling Heights has approximately 41,500 residential collection points. Approximately 8,700 households currently participate in subscription-based curbside recycling collection. The City of Sterling Heights goal is to make recycling easy and convenient for residents, while reducing the volume of waste material going to the landfill and drastically increasing its total recycling rate and volume collected through universal curbside recycling.
• Van Buren County is receiving a $500,000 EGLE grant that will enable the Van Buren Conservation District to partner with eight of the district’s 11 transfer station drop-off centers to increase recycling services that are available throughout Van Buren County. The project will focus on infrastructure upgrades at each of the eight locations that will increase capacity, efficiency, safety, and services for Van Buren County residents.
• The City of Madison Heights is receiving a $403,000 EGLE grant to roll out a community-wide Recycling/Trash Cart program that will serve its 30,000 residents and 9,600 households.
• The City of Lansing is receiving a $300,000 EGLE 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 multi-family recycling. Private-sector recycling services to multi-family sites and small- to medium-sized businesses have recently been reduced or eliminated. The EGLE grant will allow the city to compete for commercial customers who require a container larger than the 96-gallon curb carts currently used. Lansing officials 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 Lansing's diversion rate.
• The Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County (RRRASOC) was awarded a $140,000 EGLE grant to help buy new robotic sorting equipment that will automate line sorting at its MRF in Southfield. The state-of-the-art technology will address both 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. Additionally, the installation of robotics, along with the accompanying analytics, will allow for dramatically improved tracking of materials by type and provide important metrics that can inform and improve MRF operations and future capital planning. The more accurate data-tracking metrics will help inform broader public and private sector discussions about products, product packaging, policies, and laws relevant to materials management,  benefitting its member communities of Farmington, Farmington Hills, Milford, Milford Township, Novi, South Lyon, Southfield, Walled Lake and Wixom.

“Recycling is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do,” said EGLE Director Phil Roos. “Recycling properly saves Michigan taxpayers money by increasing the value of recycled materials, supporting Michigan jobs and improving the health of the environment,” Roos said. “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.”

FLINT, Mich. – Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley today joined with Genesee County state legislators and leaders with the Michigan Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership to announce the city has selected Grand Rapids-based Cascade Engineering to produce 60,000-plus 96-gallon trash carts and 64-gallon recycling carts that will be distributed for free beginning this fall to 30,000 residential households.

“Today’s announcement is the next step in transitioning Flint to a cart-based recycling program that will promote the largest recycling push in our city’s history,” Mayor Neeley said during a press conference at the Flint Service Center where models of the city’s new dark gray trash containers and blue recycling receptacles adorned with “Flint Strong” logos were on display.

Attending the event with the mayor was state Sen. John Cherry Jr. (D-Flint), state Rep. Cynthia Neeley (D-Flint), Cascade Engineering Sales Manager Brian Miller, Michigan Environmental Justice Public Advocate Regina Strong, The Recycling Partnership Vice President of Grants and Community Development Rob Taylor, and Flint recycling citizen-advocates Renee Harvey and Emily Stetson.

Flint currently requires residents to provide their own trash and recycling receptacles to contain materials at the curbside.

The approximately 60,000 new rolling, lidded recycling carts Cascade is producing for distribution this fall are projected to increase the amount of materials recycled in Flint from 624 tons per year to 5,400 tons per year – a 750% increase – as well as improve recycling access, inspire more resident participation and enhance safety for sanitation workers.

Benefits of the new carts cited by Mayor Neeley include:

• Carts will help sustain or even lower collection costs over time relative to an un-carted program.
• Carts reduce litter, help control rodent and pest populations, and enhance community cleanliness.
• Carts make recycling and garbage service easier for Flint residents

“This is a truly historic achievement for the City of Flint,” Sen. Cherry said. “We all know recycling helps us keep Michigan beautiful. Now, the City of Flint gets to be a larger part of that beautiful story.

“Many conscientious people in Flint have done their best to recycle, but most of the city’s potentially recyclable materials end up in trash containers and go to the landfill because Flint residents don’t have their own recycling containers,” Cherry said. “This campaign we’re announcing today now allows all Flint residents to do their part. Recycling is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do.”

The Flint cart campaign rollout features multiple funding sources. The city is receiving a $1 million EGLE grant to help the city purchase and provide the free recycling carts.

“Expanding and modernizing Flint’s recycling infrastructure is a key goal of EGLE and the State of Michigan,” Strong said. “Our department’s $1 million EGLE grant is an investment in the City of Flint that will help all residents across the city have convenient and equitable access to recycling opportunities.”

In addition, together with its partners including Midland-based Dow Inc., The Recycling Partnership, a purpose-driven organization, is mobilizing voluntary investment to support communities like Flint in modernizing their programs and expanding access to recycling.

The Partnership’s $3.3 million grant to Flint is one of nearly 400 programs and facilities the organization has granted over the past decade. Through national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership, Dow is donating 1.2 million pounds of plastic resin to help manufacture the roughly 70,000 new household waste and recycling carts coming to Flint this fall, which Cascade will manufacture according to national best practices to ensure durability for 10 or more years.

By transitioning to cart-based collection, the City of Flint will be adopting an industry-recognized best management practice that will set up the city for immediate and long-term success.

Of the 821 cities in the U.S. with populations over 50,000 people, 78% are carted. The majority of programs are carted because it is the most efficient and cost-effective way to collect waste and recycling at the curb. Deploying city-owned waste and recycling carts will help keep Flint’s operational costs manageable in the near term and for years to come.

“Flint’s new recycling campaign starting this fall is like going from a horse and buggy to a spaceship in terms of improvement,” Rep. Neeley said.

“We know Flint residents and all Michiganders want to recycle the right way,” Rep. Neeley said. “Through Flint’s education campaign that kicks off this fall and recycling infrastructure investments by EGLE and others, we are providing them with the tools to do just that.”

Cities across Michigan and the entire U.S. have moved to lidded carts for garbage and recycling because manual collection has become increasingly dangerous and expensive. Prominent national and regional haulers have recently stated they will no longer bid on municipal contracts that are not carted.

“The Recycling Partnership is honored to be part of Flint’s citywide recycling transition alongside Michigan EGLE and the City of Flint,” The Partnership’s Taylor said. “We remain fully committed as a partner and resource to the city and state of Michigan to deliver a better recycling system.”

The Recycling Partnership has provided cart grants to local governments since 2014, working with communities as small as 400 homes to cities as large as 200,000 households. The Partnership has teamed with EGLE to deploy recycling carts in more than 30 communities across Michigan. Together, these efforts have placed 245,000 recycling carts into service in communities serving a combined population of over 1 million Michiganders.

As a woman-owned company and the only Michigan-based recycling and trash cart container manufacturer, Cascade has rolled out over 40 million trash and recycling containers nationwide, including over 4 million receptacles in the State of Michigan. 

“Cascade is excited to be a small part of the City of Flint’s curbside trash and recycling upgrades,” Miller said. “Roll carts have a life cycle of 10-20 years or more,” Miller added, “and these new carts will be a part of the Flint community for decades to come, contributing to blight control around the city as well as contributing to the State of Michigan’s recycling goals well into the future.”

Flint-based company will become Michigan’s largest plastic film recycler and is looking to hire Flint workers to fill 25-30 good-paying jobs starting in May 2023

FLINT, Mich.  – Officials with the Michigan Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) today joined with Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley as well as Genesee County state legislators and business leaders to unveil Flint-based ACI Plastics new $10 million-plus plastics recycling facility.

“We are proud to welcome ACI Plastics’ new facility and congratulate their entire team on this milestone achievement,” Mayor Neeley said this morning during a press conference at the plant, located at 2000 Bagwell St. in Flint, between Lapeer St. and Lippincott Blvd.

“The company’s installation of state-of-the-art processing and cleaning technology will make ACI Plastics the largest processor of post-consumer recycled plastic film in Michigan,” Neeley said.

The firm is partnering with Luxembourg-based Ravago – the world’s largest distributor of plastic resins serving more than 55 countries across the globe – to ship its recycled plastic pellets to business customers throughout the United States. The plastic film, such as shrink wrap and bags used in product packaging, comes from companies such as Meijer, Amazon and Walmart.

The recycled pellets from ACI Plastics will be shipped and turned into new products by Michigan-based consumer goods and automotive companies, including Petoskey Plastics and Grand Rapids-based manufacturer Cascade Cart Solutions, which makes plastic recycling carts and bins.  

“We like going to sleep every night knowing that you’re not only doing something to help the environment but also providing a good living for many employees while enjoying a successful business,” said ACI Plastics President Scott Melton.

ACI Plastics employs about 120 workers at its four locales (two in Flint and one each in South Carolina and Nebraska). The company has received funding support for its investment through a $300,000 Renew Michigan EGLE infrastructure grant and a $150,000 Business Development Program performance-based grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Flint, Michigan was chosen for the project over a competing site in Ohio.

The Renew Michigan funding is part of EGLE’s strategy to support recycling infrastructure, improve the quality of recyclable materials, and promote market development using the Renew Michigan Fund, which the Legislature created in 2019 to bolster the state’s recycling efforts. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state Legislature are committed to raising Michigan’s recycling rate to 30% by 2025 and 45% by 2030, exceeding the national recycling rate of 32%.

“Michiganders are recycling now more than ever before, and it’s because of the technological advances and tremendous work being done by companies like ACI Plastics,” EGLE Acting Director Dan Eichinger said during the news conference.

“This progress represents a bipartisan effort in a historic partnership with the Michigan Legislature in combination with the nonprofit sector and business community that Michigan has never seen happen before,” Eichinger said.

Added EGLE Environmental Justice Public Advocate Regina Strong: “Equally important, EGLE and the Whitmer administration are introducing new opportunities to promote recycling, help support our climate change goals, and create new jobs in communities that have been historically underserved by our state, including Flint, as well as Detroit, Pontiac and Grand Rapids.”

At its peak later this year, ACI Plastics innovative recycling system will process 24 million pounds of post-consumer plastic film each year with the ability to increase capacity another 24 million pounds per-year if demand warrants.

ACI Plastics also is announcing it will create 25-30 new jobs to operate the plant with wages from $15-$20 per hour. The company is looking to hire its new employees beginning in May 2023 and is committed to prioritizing applications from City of Flint residents.

“I am extremely impressed by what we’re seeing happen here at ACI Plastics in Flint and across Michigan with regard to increasing investments in recycling,” said state Rep. Cynthia Neeley (D-Flint). “By helping to build out domestic markets for recycled goods, we help to support key Michigan industries like automotive, construction materials, and paper product manufacturing, while also preserving the environment for the next generation.”

ACI Plastics’ cutting-edge wash line will allow for the recycling of Michigan-produced recycled plastic content to be kept in the State of Michigan for reuse rather than be landfilled or shipped to other states/countries for recycling.

Maintaining the quality of recycled materials so that they can be used in manufacturing of new products is a persistent challenge. This challenge is being addressed by the investment of ACI plastics with the support of funds from EGLE and MEDC.

“I welcome public investment in businesses like ACI Plastics that divert materials from Michigan landfills, boost local economies, and support the largest push in state history to promote recycling activities,”said state Sen. John Cherry (D-Flint).

Each year, more than 380 million tons of plastics are produced globally. Less than 10% of these plastics are reused or recycled, leading to significant accumulation and waste as products are incinerated, dumped in landfills or lost in the environment. Investments like this to support a circular economy for plastics is a key part of Michigan’s work to reduce climate change and work toward the 45% recycling goal identified in the MI Healthy Climate Plan, the broad-based roadmap to a sustainable, carbon-neutral Michigan economy by 2050.

Many companies have made commitments to drastically increase their use of recycled content in their packaging or products including Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Danone and Unilever. Using recycled content in packaging reduces life-cycle environmental impacts and helps to create markets for the material that Michigan residents recycle at the curb.

Here’s the challenge: There’s not enough plastic recycled for companies to meet mandates or their public commitments. That is why Michigan is investing in the NextCycle Michigan Initiative to attract innovative businesses to the state and form partnerships such as its collaboration with ACI Plastics to connect the recycled content supply chain – from the curb to new products made in Michigan.

The recycling process also helps ensure a steady supply of material for manufacturers to work with. ACI Plastics’ new approach will reduce carbon emissions and pollution by using waste plastic as a new source of raw material and transforming it into pellets that can be recycled repeatedly without loss of quality.

ACI Plastics represents the kind of business growth that helps Flint and Genesee County succeed, noted Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance Executive Director Tyler Rossmaessler.

“This project is an exciting win for Flint and for the entire state and underscores our region’s continued commitment to building a cleaner future. We are grateful that ACI Plastics has chosen to expand operations in Flint,” said Rossmaessler. “The Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance will continue to work side by side with our government partners and companies like ACI Plastics to see Flint and Genesee County grow.”

Recycling in Michigan has reached a new all-time high, up 35.4% from pre-2019 levels, according to a 2022 EGLE analysis. This equates to Michigan now capturing over 500,000 more tons of cardboard boxes, milk cartons, plastic bottles, organic material, and other recyclables, equating to more than 110 pounds per person each year.

Since 2019, the state has nearly doubled the number of households with available curbside recycling carts and drop-off sites. Nearly 3 million households — three-quarters of the state’s population — now have access to recycling in their communities.

EGLE statewide and regional data show Michiganders’ understanding of recycling best habits has increased in every corner of the state. EGLE leaders attribute much of Michigan’s improved recycling success to the state’s Know It Before You Throw It awareness push featuring the Recycling Raccoons that launched in 2019. The campaign was honored as the 2019 national “Campaign of the Year” by industry trade publication Waste Dive magazine.

PONTIAC — Since they met for the first time at a church — and as they laughingly admit were instantly “smitten” — you could say the union of Damany Head and Shanell Weatherspoon was a match made in heaven.

So it’s no surprise that their love for the environment and running the successful minority-owned recycling company they co-founded together continues to fuel their romance.

But the dynamic duo who created Essential Recycling in Pontiac isn’t content to expand recycling opportunities in commercial sectors of Southeast Michigan by educating the construction and skilled trades industries on the value of returning materials beyond metal to the supply chain for reuse as new products.

They’re also improving the lives of metro Detroit’s Black youth by introducing graduating high school seniors to potential careers in the recycling industry.

‘Recycling Is Essential‘
Essential Recycling contracts with HVAC distributors, contractors, scrappers and property management companies to capture refrigerant, scrap metal, cardboard, wood pallets and other materials for recycling in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

“We’ve defined pretty clearly our niche in the industry based on our belief that recycling is essential to building better communities,” said Head, who has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio Northern University and worked as an engineer for General Motors in Pontiac before he and Weatherspoon started their firm in 2008.

“Small-business owners, especially in the HVAC market, don’t necessarily have enough labor resources to take care of the back end of their businesses,” Head said.

“We provide them with a unique solution to recycle their materials, which saves them and their employees a significant amount of time and gives back to communities by improving the environment so it doesn’t go to a landfill,” added Head, who serves on the Pontiac Regional Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

New Life for Old HVAC Units
Essential Recycling crews began collecting recyclable material from heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractors and distributors in 2009.

Many HVAC parts can be recycled. Recyclable components include coils, motors, sheet metal, compressors, cardboard boxes, wood and plastic pallets, furnaces, copper tubing, brass fittings and metal ductwork.

It’s illegal to leave old residential or commercial HVAC systems in the trash because they contain chemicals that can harm the environment. Leftover refrigerant, for example, can deplete the ozone layer if allowed to evaporate. When installing a new system, responsible heating and air conditioning contractors will not only remove the old equipment but also haul it away from homes and workplaces.

All HVAC system materials require separating and sorting before going into individual bins for recycling and/or transporting to recycling centers. That’s a painstaking chore which represents unproductive time and energy by skilled HVAC installers who could better spend their time in service to more clients. 

That’s why environmentally friendly HVAC companies reach out to Essential Recycling to take over, explained Weatherspoon, who has a bachelor’s from Michigan State University and a master’s from the University of Michigan-Flint and who worked for General Motors from 2000 until 2019 before taking on more responsibilities at the family business.

“Our goal is to recycle or dispose these items with the planet in mind,” said Weatherspoon, adding that she experienced an “awakening” about protecting the environment when she was pregnant in 2008 with the first of the couple’s three children while living in Pontiac.

“I looked around my community and I did not see a lot of people recycling and that got me thinking about what we could do to save the planet for our child,” she said. “Damany and I started having conversations about our obligation to the earth, and that sparked our passion for recycling and sustainability.”

Metro Detroit, the most densely packed region of Michigan, has almost 2 million single-family homes and condominiums. With the HVAC sector slated to grow an estimated 6% over the next few years, Essential Recycling is poised to support an industry that is lacking a strong and diverse workforce pipeline.

“Damany and Shanell are rising stars in the recycling world,” said Matt Flechter, a recycling market development specialist with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), who coordinates the state’s effort to ensure materials put at the curb make their way into new products made in Michigan.

“They are bringing the knowledge, experience and perspective necessary to help Michigan reach new heights,” Flechter said.

“They also know that growing a diverse workforce is helping to create job opportunities from HVAC wastes that once were buried in the ground but now, because of their work, are creating value in Michigan’s economy.”

Promoting Recycling Workforce Diversity
Achieving diversity in the waste and recycling industry is no easy task.

The most precise data available from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — which covers the broader “waste management and remediation services” category — estimates 81% of the overall workforce is male and nearly 74% of executives or senior managers are white males. This compares with 52% and 59%, respectively, across the U.S. private sector workforce based on EEOC data.

The lack of diversity isn’t lost on the founders of Essential Recycling.

They’ve teamed with the Pontiac United Education Coalition, Oakland County Michigan Works! Pontiac, Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, the Pontiac Chamber and the Talent Development Coalition in Pontiac to work collaboratively with metro Detroit high schools to provide paid internships in recycling and to provide training and soft skills development for adults to obtain employment in the burgeoning recycling field.

“Recycling creates jobs by keeping materials once thought of as waste circulating in the economy, and it’s important to continue to grow these jobs in all communities, for all Michigan residents,” said Othalene Lawrence, EGLE’s Equity and Inclusion Officer.

“Shanell and Damany are making a positive difference in the lives of the students they mentor by showing them that they, and Michigan, can prosper by actively working to reduce waste, save resources and protect the climate,” Lawrence said.

The Essential Recycling initiative is supported with a $135,000 EGLE grant. The push to promote recycling education aligns with the goals of EGLE’s national award-winning Know It Before You Throw It recycling awareness campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoons.

“As a Black-owned company, living and operating in a legacy city like Pontiac, we are attempting to demonstrate the viability of participating in an accelerating growth industry such as recycling,” Head said. 

“We have invested a tremendous amount of time, money and resources into training and providing services to people of color over the last 10 years,” he added. “The investment in environmental justice around recycling has long been missing and people of color have not received equitable funding or technical assistance to build successful, scalable businesses that serve legacy cities.”

Hope for the Future
Dante Thomas, 21, a Pontiac native and 2019 graduate of West Bloomfield High School, is an emerging Essential Recycling trailblazer who credits Head for inspiring him to consider a career in recycling.

“Damany has been a very good role model for me and is helping me learn major key skills for life,” said Thomas, who has worked for the company since 2020 as a recycling specialist hauling and separating recyclable materials from HVAC companies, medical facilities and multifamily housing complexes.

“It’s funny, because growing up I was one of those kids who threw everything away even though we had recycling bins at school and at home,” Thomas said. “But once you get the hang of it, it’s easy to recycle and you’re helping the planet. I really plan on staying for a while at Essential.”

The Talent Development Coalition has about 65 high school students from across metro Detroit who are pursuing employment in skilled trades. Many are expressing interest in the recycling industry thanks to Head’s role as a mentor and business leader, according to Carlton Jones, a program coordinator. 

“Damany and Essential Recycling have been instrumental in supporting our effort to help people understand the hiring needs of the recycling industry,” Jones said.

“Most people, not just young people but also adults, don’t understand the opportunities that exist in the recycling profession,” he said. “Once we begin to educate them and they hear about all the exciting possibilities from Damany, you can see that lightbulb come on and they say, ‘Yeah, I can see myself doing that.’”

ANN ARBOR — Michigan is now one of the nation’s three best states for recycling plastics, according to a recent Wise Voter study.

And in Ann Arbor, recycling plastics is about to get easier thanks to the pending arrival of a state-of-the-art SamurAI sorting robot that will enable the city’s recycling agency to process and sell more plastic than ever before.

“This is a big, exciting deal — our new robot is a technological marvel that’s going to be a game-changer for how we can more safely recycle certain types of plastics in greater amounts and with more efficiency than we’ve ever previously experienced,” said Ukena, the CEO of Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA), a nationally acclaimed nonprofit credited with creating Michigan’s first curbside recycling program in 1978.

“At the same time, as more and more communities begin utilizing these SamurAI Sorting Robots moving forward, we can help address our nation’s plastics pollution crisis,” Ukena said.

RAA is already revitalizing recycling in Southeast Michigan with a new materials recovery facility (MRF) that ensures recyclable materials are sorted and sold to manufacturers for use in new products.

The MRF opened Dec. 1, 2021, at 4150 Platt Road in Ann Arbor, after 12 months of construction to complete a $7.25 million overhaul of the facility, which had been defunct since 2016. Its physical redesign and operating strategy are both driven by a zero-waste ethic with the aim of supporting an effective, sustainable recycling system. 

Flying With EGLE

The MRF construction project was supported by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)  with an $800,000 grant. It aligns with the goals of EGLE’s national award-winning Know It Before You Throw It recycling education campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoons that adorn street corner recycling bins throughout Ann Arbor. 

As a regional hub designed to process 34,000 tons annually with a single shift, the MRF provides much-needed recycling infrastructure in Southeast Michigan.

In addition to serving the city of Ann Arbor under a 10-year contract, RAA is processing materials from the city of Ypsilanti and the surrounding area. These cities had previously shipped recyclables out of state for sorting. Ann Arbor is saving $640,000 annually compared with the previous contract, under which materials were shipped long distances for processing. The RAA team anticipates the savings from processing materials on-site will continue to grow as the market for recyclables improves. 

Despite the overwhelming success of the new MRF, determining how to improve its plastics recycling performance remained a major obstacle that confronted RAA and continues to vex recyclers across the nation.

Problem Plastics

Plastic is a synthetic material that is cheap, strong and resistant. While its characteristics make it an appealing material for production and consumption, those same characteristics are problematic for the environment — mainly because it does not easily decompose and ends up in the ocean, landfills or littering streets.

At the Ann Arbor MRF, plastics are sorted into separate piles based on their melting temperatures.  Historically, RAA staff has manually sorted certain plastics for recycling but because they are hard to identify as they speed by on a conveyor belt, too much of their plastics ended up going to a landfill.

Enter the SamurAI sorting robot manufactured by Machinex Technologies.

The SamurAI Solution

The machine is an adaptive robot powered by artificial intelligence to more accurately and efficiently identify specific types of plastics and other materials for safe, fast and effective sorting, especially in identifying and selecting polypropylene (PP) plastics. PP is the type of plastic labeled No. 5 on packaging for such grocery items as yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream and butter containers.

Now, with the introduction of its SamurAI robot, RAA is looking to increase its recycling capacity of PP to at least 360 tons annually and divert it from landfills.

Recycled PP is commonly used by manufacturers to make caps, cups, automotive parts, paint cans, transport packaging, housewares and other products. PP has been collected for recycling for less than a decade. But collection and sorting is growing, with MRFs across Michigan making major investments, some fueled by support from EGLE, national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership and other entities.

RAA’s SamurAI acquisition was funded through a $200,000 grant from EGLE and an additional $186,000 from the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, an initiative of The Recycling Partnership. 

Benefits of RAA’s SamurAI solution include its capabilities to:

• Identify distinguishing features on recyclables in the same way as the human eye.
• Recognize recyclable material in dirty, tangled and constantly changing conditions, including the introduction of new packaging and designs.
• Continually improve and learn from operating experience.
• Reach up to 70 processing “picks” per minute, which nearly doubles the average speed of a person who separates items by hand at a recycling processing center.
• Remove small and light materials using a unique integrated suction system which reduces RAA’s daily operation costs.
• Protect workers from handling dangerous items, such as batteries, needles, and household chemicals.

SamurAI’s Safety ROI

The importance of improved employee safety and better working conditions at the Ann Arbor MRF is especially significant, Ukena noted.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2020 Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illness report showed the rate of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers at materials recovery facilities rose from 3.6 in 2019 to 5.1in 2020.

“Processing recycled materials by hand is a dangerous profession for humans — you can get hepatitis from a needle stick, abrasions and cuts are common, hands get caught in the baling process and on conveyer belts. In many ways, it’s more dangerous work than being a firefighter,” Ukena said.

“It’s also important to know our SamurAI robot won’t replace workers. It just improves quality control and reduces safety risk in the workplace,” he added.

Profit Potential

Approximately 3.5 billion pounds of rigid polypropylene packaging is sold every year nationally, but only a very small fraction is recycled. RAA hopes to improve the recycling of PP at its new facility when the SamurAI robot becomes operable this fall.

“There is strong national growth in the sale and use of polypropylene, because it is a polymer

of choice for food service and packaging due to its positive health profile and potential for

recycling collection and recycled content,” said Matt Flechter, an EGLE recycling market development specialist.

Major retailers, dairy brands and quick-service restaurants are shifting from polystyrene – commonly referred to as Styrofoam – to PP, particularly in food and food service applications, because they seek a material that can be sorted by local MRFs.

RAA projects the SamurAI’s faster sorting speed will result in increased revenue from RAA’s sale of its recycled plastics. As a result, it expects to provide an average of $72,000 annually to city of Ann Arbor coffers and generate a new funding source for all its Washtenaw County municipality partners.

“We are confident there is going to be a high demand for recycled polypropylene for the foreseeable future, because being able to put that on a product label signals a commitment by name-brand companies that they’re using recycled materials in their product lines,” Ukena said.

How and what you can recycle depends on where you live and what you are trying to recycle. To learn more about recycling in Michigan, visit www.RecyclingRaccoons.org.