Category: Recycling Innovation

To continue the momentum of the national award-winning “Know It Before You Throw It” campaign, and coinciding with the start of Earth Week (April 18-22), EGLE also announced a record $7 million-plus in infrastructure and NextCycle Michigan grants in the largest-ever push to improve recycling opportunities across the state during 2022, particularly impacting Detroit, Pontiac, Flint, Grand Rapids, Alpena and the U.P.

LANSING – Recycling in Michigan has reached a new all-time high, up 35.4% from pre-2019 levels, according to a new analysis released today by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).

EGLE also announced today more Michiganders than ever have access to recycling services. 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.

In addition, EGLE has announced grants to business and local government partners in communities across the state totaling over $7 million, more than Michigan has ever invested in recycling infrastructure and technology and far surpassing last year’s record $4.7 million. Among the communities benefitting from EGLE’s newest investments are Detroit, Pontiac, Flint, Grand Rapids, Alpena, Marquette and two Upper Peninsula townships.

“Michiganders are recycling now more than ever before,” EGLE Director Liesl Clark said during a virtual news conference this morning. “This tremendous accomplishment 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.

“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 Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, and Grand Rapids,” Clark said.

The results come from a more than three-year review of statewide data by EGLE researchers that coincided with the launch of EGLE’s national award-winning “Know It Before You Throw It” recycling education campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoon Squad. The aim of the campaign that began in 2019 is to increase recycling and promote best practices to reduce contamination of materials with unsuitable or nonrecyclable items in recycling bins and at drop-off sites.

The data released today shows:

• Michigan has steadily increased its recycling rate from what was historically the lowest in the Great Lakes region. The rate has risen 35.4%, from 14.25% prior to 2019 (a newly revised EGLE estimate from previous projections of 15%), and peaking to 19.3% now, based on the 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 over 110 pounds per-person each year.
• Michigan’s recycling industry is now processing 440,828 tons of material annually (not including organic materials, e.g. that explains the 60,000 ton discrepancy from the previous bullet) which Michigan businesses are using to put back into local economies. Sorted recyclable material from Michigan households and businesses feed into new more environmentally friendly products and support business models which are based on the use of recycled materials.
• More Michiganders than ever have access to recycling opportunities. Roughly 75% of Michigan residents – approximately 2.9 million households – now have curbside recycling access or drop-off sites available.
• More than $460 million has been invested in recycling for new technology, robotics with artificial intelligence, fleet maintenance improvements, equipment upgrades, and hiring new employees since 2019, with nearly 80% of that investment coming from local government, nonprofits, and businesses across the state.
• For every $1 that EGLE provides in grants from its Renew Michigan and NextCycle Michigan recycling initiatives, the return on investment in additional spending by private businesses, local governments, and nonprofits is $10, which combined is helping drive Michigan’s plan to develop markets that will capture an ever-increasing stream of recycled content.

“The NextCycle Michigan and Renew Michigan grants announced today mark the largest push in state history to promote recycling activities that divert materials from Michigan landfills, boost local economies, and support Gov. Whitmer’s climate change priorities through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” said EGLE Materials Management Division Director Liz Browne.

The 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%.

Today’s announcement by EGLE comes in advance of the release on Thursday, April 21, of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, commissioned by Gov. Whitmer as a broad-based roadmap to a sustainable, 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.

“State decision-makers wisely understood that partnering with Michigan’s nonprofit sector and business community to help develop market-driven solutions was critical to improving Michigan’s waste and materials management processes and advancing its climate change goals,” said Jill Martin, director of community programs for The Recycling Partnership, the national nonprofit teaming with EGLE and Michigan communities this year on recycling initiatives across the state.

“The Next Cycle initiative and Renew Michigan infrastructure grants are an important piece of accomplishing those goals,” Martin said. “We’re tremendously impressed by what we’re seeing happen in Michigan with regard to increasing its investment in recycling. 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.”

Highlights of the grants announced by EGLE today include:

• Flint: A $300,000 Renew Michigan grant to support an $8 million project by Flint-based ACI Plastics to build a recycling system that will process 25 million pounds of postconsumer plastic film each year and create 25-30 new jobs to operate the plant with wages from $17-$20 per hour when it launches in 2023.
• Detroit: A $202,000 Renew Michigan grant to make it easier than ever to recycle at all City of Detroit parks and some neighborhoods beginning this spring. It’s part of a roughly $300,000 effort by the City of Detroit to continue to expand its residential recycling program by providing 64-gallon curbside carts, and to boost recycling opportunities in public parks. The project will support environmental justice by benefitting an underserved community and provide increased access to recycling for all visitors at Detroit’s city parks and via expanded curbside collection for city residents.
• Southeast Michigan: A $135,000 Renew Michigan grant to support a project that will expand recycling in commercial sectors of Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties. This grant will enable minority-owned, Pontiac-based Essential Recycling to increase collection and tracking of recycled material recovered across the three counties. Educating the construction and skilled trades industries on the value of recycling is an important component of what Essential Recycling aims to achieve. Essential Recycling is partnering with the Pontiac United Education Coalition, Pontiac Chamber of Commerce, City of Pontiac, Oakland County, local governments in the tri-county region, and Michigan Works! to provide graduating high school seniors with career opportunities in the recycling industry.
• Upper Peninsula: A $251,000 Renew Michigan grant that helps fund the largest expansion of residential recycling in the Upper Peninsula in 2022. The grant helps fund a total project budget of nearly $500,000 for the City of Marquette to provide 96-gallon curbside recycling carts to all single-family residences (6,100 households and 100 businesses), in place of the resident-provided containers currently in use. Residents in Ely Township and Michigamme Township also will receive 64-gallon curbside recycling carts with EGLE grants. Those three communities and EGLE will partner with The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit, which will provide additional funding for carts and promote an education campaign.
• Alpena: The Alpena Resource Recovery Board of Directors and the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments (NEMCOG) will be receiving a $1 million EGLE grant through Renew Michigan to support construction of a more than $5 million new recycling center near the Alpena County Regional Airport on Airport Road. Local stakeholders are now in discussions for a $1 million-$3 million loan request from national nonprofit Closed Loop Fund that, if approved, will leverage Closed Loop Fund’s support to capture committed match funding from national trade association leaders Carton Council of North America and the Food Packaging Institute that will finalize financing for the project.
• Grand Rapids: A more than $275,000 EGLE grant with support from NextCycle Michigan to Grand Rapids-based Wormies, a composting business founded in 2017 specializing in vermicomposting (composting with worms) serving the Grand Rapids community. At the core of its operation is the production of castings (worm poop) for farm and garden use. Wormies’ mission is to change the way the Grand Rapids community manages organic waste by achieving a 100% diversion from landfills. Its vision is to see Wormies composting in every neighborhood and for Grand Rapids to set the standard nationwide for responsible waste management. The EGLE grant is supporting Wormies’ plan to move from its current 1/4-acre location in Jenison to a new 13-acre site in Cascade Township that will feature a state-of-the-art regenerative natural ecosystem farm, pollinator gardens and a biodiversity pond that will increase production of its highly sought-after premium soil product line.

“These strategic investments EGLE has announced today reflect the commitment of communities across Michigan to finding modern and scalable solutions across our entire recycling system,” Clark said. “It is critical that EGLE continue to work together with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, our partners in the Michigan Legislature, the private sector, nonprofits like The Recycling Partnership, and at the federal and local levels to ensure we achieve our state’s goals for sustainable operations.”

EGLE also announced today new findings from an EGLE-commissioned survey conducted August-September 2021. The 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. The survey results show:

• 58% increase in knowledge that food residue ruins recycling. In the U.P., the increase was 124%.
• 47% increase in knowledge that “tanglers” can ruin a recycling load.
• 25% decrease in the belief that it’s OK to place nonrecyclable items in recycling because someone will sort out nonrecyclable items later.
• 51% decrease in Central Michigan, and 38% decrease in West Michigan, in the belief among residents with curbside recycling that plastic bags are accepted at the curb.
• 47% of Michiganders – and up to 54% in the U.P., 55% in the Lansing area, and 64% in Northern Michigan – recognize the Recycling Raccoons campaign.
• 78% of people who recalled the campaign said it made them more mindful of their recycling behavior or changed a recycling behavior. That figure was as high as 87% in Metro Detroit and 89% in Northern Michigan.
• 7 in 10 Michiganders say they learned something new from the ads.

Two examples of how the Know It Before You Throw It Recycling Raccoons’ message is having a positive impact in every region of the state come from data that shows increased knowledge that food residue ruins recycling and that plastic bags should not be included in curbside recycling bins or at drop-off sites.

Statewide, there has been a 58% increase in knowledge that food residue ruins recycling. That includes:

• A 48% increase in Southeast Michigan.
• A 67% increase in East Michigan.
• A 57% increase in West Michigan.
• A 64% increase in Central Michigan and the Lansing-Jackson area.
• A 59% increase in Northern Michigan, and
• A 124% increase in the Upper Peninsula.

Statewide, there also has been a 14% decrease in the mistaken belief among residents with curbside recycling that plastic bags are accepted at the curb. That includes in:

• Southeast Michigan, where half of Metro Detroit households report recycling plastic bags in their curbside bins or carts – which is a no-no for all recycling programs across southeast Michigan.
• West Michigan, which has seen a 38% decrease in belief among residents with curbside recycling that plastic bags are accepted at the curb.
• East Michigan, which has seen a 19% decrease in belief among residents with curbside recycling that plastic bags are accepted at the curb.
• And in Central Michigan, there’s been a 51% decrease in belief among residents with curbside recycling that plastic bags are accepted at the curb.

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

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is dedicated to reducing waste that ends up in landfills. The department recently acquired grant money to renovate and update one of the recycling facilities in Grand Rapids, which will allow them to achieve their goal of recycling even more waste.

The facility's updates will allow people to dispose of chemicals, as well as increase the value of recycling glass and certain types of plastics. While the recycling drop-off will be closed at the Wealthy Street location, there are 23 other companies that will allow people to drop off recyclables or pick up curbside.

The recycling center's renovations are part of their overall goal to reduce waste in Kent County's landfills by 90 percent by 2030. To learn more about how to help reduce landfill waste, head to reimaginetrash.org.

Recycling not only is good for the environment, but it also has a wide-ranging economic impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the importance of recycling in Michigan and put a greater emphasis on increasing the quality of the state’s recyclable materials for end-market use.

“Recycling has always been environmentally and economically important, but market shifts in the wake of the pandemic have made it even more so,” said Matt Flechter, recycling market development specialist for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). “The consequence of less recycling by businesses is that fewer recyclables are in the supply chain for paper companies to make products such as cardboard boxes and toilet paper.”

Suggestions to achieve high levels of recovery and support robust end markets are outlined in an EGLE report, “Michigan Recycling Impact & Recycled Commodities Market Assessment.” In part, these efforts include education and engagement, policies and public-private coordination.

Ultimately, this is a call to action that will have a wide-ranging economic impact in the state of Michigan.

“When you hear about recycling, you mostly hear about how it’s good for the environment,” Flechter said. “But recycling can boost job growth in Michigan and make us a beacon to attract talent from around the world.”

Bigger than tourism

EGLE’s “Know It Before You Throw It” campaign is aimed at increasing the state’s recycling rate from 15%, currently the lowest in the Great Lakes, to 30% by 2025. The goal is to eventually reach 45%, and according to the report, the economic impact of achieving that would support 138,000 new jobs in Michigan’s recycling, reuse and recovery (RRR) sector. That increase would also provide $9 billion in annual labor income and $33.8 billion in economic output.

Moreover, at that rate, the RRR industry would account for 3.3% of Michigan’s total economic output, overtaking both transportation and tourism volume. Put another way, if all direct or indirect RRR sector jobs were in the same city, they would create the third-largest municipality in the state. And that’s all based on materials that enter the recycling stream rather than go into a landfill.

“It’s important to recognize that the items we discard on a weekly basis from our homes represent resources,” said Mike Csapo, general manager of the Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County (RRRASOC). “Those materials can be part of an economic equation that feeds a critical supply chain for manufacturing. And that means jobs.”

RRRASOC helps make waste and recycling programs convenient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible for more than a quarter of a million people in its member communities of Farmington, Farmington Hills, Milford, Milford Township, Novi, South Lyon, Southfield, Walled Lake and Wixom. And these programs – which include recycling drop-off centers, curbside collection schedules and household hazardous waste collection events – benefit employment across the state.

“For every job that can be generated by throwing something away, 10 more can be created in the supply chain to repurpose that material,” Csapo said. “When we have systems in place that can treat recyclable items in a way that allows for continued value-added activity, we’re playing an important role in keeping the engines of the economy running.”

Igniting a new workforce pipeline

Recycling doesn’t just mean new jobs – it also offers new pathways into the workforce.

In Muskegon County, for example, the Goodwill LifeLaunch: Ignite Reentry Program recently launched with the aim of introducing new workers to careers in recycling and other manufacturing professions.

The two-year program is a partnership between Goodwill Industries of West Michigan and Padnos Recycling and Scrap Management, and it consists of two parts: recycling certification training for young adults who have had interactions with the criminal justice system, and a more rigorous system of diverting recyclable materials – such as packaging and electronics – from landfills. The goal is to grow the supply of recycled materials for high-demand markets, reduce recycling costs, increase market participation and – crucially – create jobs.

“This program can connect these individuals with marketable skills and give them work experience,” said Dina Butler, program manager at Goodwill of West Michigan. “We want to be able to help them set future goals and give them the skills training to get a good job or continue their education.”

EGLE sparked the Ignite program with a $200,000 Recycling Market Development grant, which served as a catalyst to the more than $820,000 in funding that came from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The Department of Labor grant is part of a $4.5 million grant that is being shared with Goodwill organizations in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Louisville. The EGLE and federal money covers 93% of the program’s operating costs, with Goodwill itself contributing the remaining $325,000.

Goodwill, a nonprofit known mostly as a place to sell and purchase used clothing and home furnishings, provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs benefiting those who may face barriers to employment. It also has a well-honed recycling program ingrained into its structure.

Butler said Ignite is set to run through December 2022 (with a one-year follow-up period), and although the first batch of cohorts is only four, eventually she sees 100 more being part of the first wave.

“Ultimately, we hope this becomes a self-sustaining program that will continue long after the grant ends,” Butler said.

As part of the program, Muskegon Community College will host a 10-week manufacturing training course, during which participants will also engage in work training at Goodwill. The goal is to give participants “transferrable skills,” such as blueprint reading, manufacturing machinery operation and supply chain management experience. Once training is over, these individuals will then be paired with manufacturing positions around the state where they can put their new abilities to work.

A legacy of recycling benefits

The history of the recycling movement has its origins right here in the Wolverine State – fittingly, in Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan Wolverines. The nation’s very first curbside recycling program got its start there in 1978.

Three years later, a similar program started in New Jersey, and throughout the ’80s curbside programs popped up around the country and the number of drop-off stations grew. However, it wasn’t until 1987, when a shipping vessel loaded with 3,100 tons of trash from New York City was refused by every port it neared, that the United States welcomed a national conversation about waste issues.

“That really helped people visualize the trash problem we were facing, and it led to the creation of recycling programs and legislation that continue to this day,” Flechter said. “This is an environmental issue above, beyond and before an economic issue.”

Investment in innovation continues today with projects like EGLE’s NextCycle Michigan initiative, which aims to develop waste and recycling recovery projects that will grow the state’s recycled materials supply chain and end markets. The initiative recently named 17 inaugural partners who are committed to job creation and industry growth by recovering materials destined for the landfill.

“So we have to really ask ourselves,” Flechter said, “do we want to extract new materials and process them into something and then just put it in a hole in the ground, or do we want to keep using those materials and, in doing so, create jobs right here in Michigan? Recycling is important not just to Michigan’s environment, but also its economy.”

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.

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.

Ideas kept getting dumped into the proverbial trash bin for weeks.

But leaders of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) knew immediately when they had finally recruited the perfect spokesperson for the state’s first-ever “Know It Before You Throw It” campaign to increase and improve recycling.

Turns out, the best person for the job of promoting the Know It Before You Throw It campaign isn’t a person at all.

It’s a raccoon – six of them, to be precise.

“As soon as we saw these adorable little creatures, we recognized instantly we had discovered the messengers to best help us educate the Michigan public on the do’s and don’ts of recycling,” said EGLE Director Liesl Clark.

The Michigan Recycling Raccoon Squad features six “talking” raccoons that each focus on a particular recyclable:

• Nyla P. Lastic (plastic)
• Carlos Cardboard (cardboard)
• Precious Metale (metal)
• Paper MacKay (paper)
• Gladys Glass (glass)
• Frank (everything else)

The raccoons’ “personalities” match their specialties – reflected by the purple mohawk on Precious, for example – and their goal is to help Michigan residents grow knowledge and improve their recycling habits.

“The current recycling rate in Michigan is just 15% – that’s the lowest rate in the Great Lakes, and among the lowest in the country,” said EGLE Materials Management Division Director Jack Schinderle.

“Our objective is for Michigan to reach a rate of 30% by 2025, and to ultimately reach 45% annually. The Know It Before You Throw It campaign is key to getting the word out about good recycling practices.”

A few simple rules
The Know It Before You Throw It campaign is part of a statewide recycling education and engagement initiative designed to increase both the quantity and quality of material that is recycled in Michigan.

Beyond preserving the environment, reducing energy use and conserving landfill space, improved recycling in Michigan can bring important economic benefits, according to the “Expanding Recycling in Michigan” report prepared for the Michigan Recycling Partnership.

Achieving EGLE’s 30% recycling goal would produce as many as 12,986 jobs, which translates into an economic impact of up to $300 million annually.

“By learning a few simple rules, we can elevate our rate of recycling, expand the amount we recycle and help build stronger, more prosperous communities, which is a win-win-win for everyone,” Schinderle said.

It’s easy to remember many of the tips suggested by EGLE’s raccoon expert on recycling plastics – Nyla P. Lastic – on her webpage:

• Rinse and empty all plastic containers. This means rinsing out containers so they are completely empty of food scraps, such as leftover yogurt, or such liquids as unused milk in a jug prior to tossing them in the recycling bin.
• Check for the number on your plastic item to make sure it’s accepted where you live (1 and 2 are the most widely accepted).
• Plastic food storage bags cannot be recycled.
• Plastic straws are not accepted.
• Never put recyclables in plastic bags – in most places plastic bags are not recyclable, but you can usually recycle them at grocery retailers such as Meijer, Kroger or Target.

Every municipality in Michigan has slightly different rules, however. Certain types of plastic accepted in one city aren’t necessarily accepted in another, so it’s important to routinely check with local officials about what’s permissible in individual communities.

Lights. Cameras. Raccoons.
One of the Know It Before You Throw It campaign’s highlights is a TV commercial featuring the Recycling Raccoons educating a homeowner on her recycling habits.

The 30-second ad quickly became a social media favorite after it was introduced June 24 to Michigan audiences, generating nearly 4,000 positive reactions and 2,500 Facebook shares over its opening two weeks.

“The popularity of Michigan’s Recycling Raccoon Squad is far surpassing EGLE’s expectations,” Schinderle said.

The ad has also inspired civic organizations and environmental advocacy groups across the state to invite EGLE representatives to bring the Know It Before You Throw It mascots’ message to their communities. EGLE staff members are receiving more Know It Before You Throw It event requests than they can schedule this summer, so they’re booking presentations through the fall, Schinderle noted.

The commercial was filmed on a makeshift set at a Lansing-area home with two professional raccoon “actors” – George and Boomer – EGLE hired to play the roles of all six squad members.

“Boomer is very laid-back, so he was picked to play Nyla because he didn’t mind sitting in a plastic pool on an inflatable raft,” said Greg SmithAldridge, who served as animal wrangler for the shoot. Wranglers direct animal-actors to perform certain actions according to the script, similar to the duties of a movie director.

‘It’s easy to improve’

“It’s all about making it fun for the animal and making sure they want to be there,” said SmithAldridge, who has previously worked on such Hollywood film productions as “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” and is currently engaged on a TV ad to sell season tickets for pro football’s Baltimore Ravens.

“You can’t convince a raccoon to do something if he doesn’t want to do it. At some point, he’s going to be just like, ‘OK, I’m done wearing these sunglasses.’”

SmithAldridge didn’t just help the raccoons with their behavior. He got a dose of positive recycling behavior modification himself and was surprised to learn plastic bags can clog the machines that sort recyclables.

“Just from looking at the script and being on set, I realized how bad my recycling habits were,” he said. “I’d been putting all my recyclables in plastic bags for years, but I didn’t know that was wrong. Since this Recycling Raccoons shoot, I’ve really changed up the way I do stuff at home and I realize that it’s really easy to improve.”

To learn more about the rules of recycling and meet the rest of the Recycling Raccoon Squad, visit RecyclingRaccoons.org.

Goal is to reduce contaminated materials going into recycling bins and double state’s recycling rate to 30% by 2025

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy today announced the launch of Know It Before You Throw It, a first-ever statewide education campaign to better inform Michiganders on what can – and cannot – be recycled and how to recycle correctly.

EGLE’s goal is to promote 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% by 2025 and ultimately reach 45% annually. Michigan’s current 15% recycling rate is the lowest in the Great Lakes region and ranks among the nation’s lowest.

The Know It Before You Throw It campaign launches as communities across Michigan and the U.S. are struggling with international market shifts, resulting in higher costs for some local governments that fail to meet new industrywide cleanliness standards for recyclable materials.

“We want to inform and inspire more people than ever before in Michigan about how to recycle better,” said EGLE’s Materials Management Division Director Jack Schinderle. “This campaign is a first of its kind 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 officials were joined during today’s news conference at a Lansing recycling transfer station by East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows; Lansing Deputy Mayor Samantha Harkins; state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D-East Lansing; state Rep. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing; state Rep. Kara Hope, D-Lansing; state Rep. Julie Brixie, D-East Lansing; Michigan Recycling Coalition Executive Director Kerrin O’Brien; and Michigan Waste and Recycling Association Board Chair Kevin Kendall.

“We thank Gov. Whitmer, the Michigan Legislature and EGLE for their leadership and for working together to develop a strategy that will help improve and sustain Michigan’s environment now and throughout the 21st century,” Meadows said.

Recycling in Michigan is receiving a major boost as state legislators in an overwhelmingly bipartisan move have increased EGLE’s funding for recycling from $2 million last year to $15 million in 2019. The extra funds will support development of recycling markets, increase access to recycling opportunities and reinforce planning efforts to grow recycling at the local level.

“What’s really great about EGLE’s campaign is that we’ve spent the past decade or more stressing the importance of putting more resources into recycling education and supporting local communities’ programs,” Hertel said. “Michigan is now putting words into action.”

To kick off the campaign, EGLE introduced the Michigan Recycling Raccoon Squad, a six-member team of recycling champions who will serve as EGLE’s education ambassadors. EGLE-commissioned research shows that education is key for residents to learn how to properly recycle. For example:

• 50% of Michigan residents mistakenly believe they’re allowed to recycle plastic bags in their curbside recycling, which is prohibited by most municipalities.
• 76% of Michiganders are unaware that failing to rinse and dry items before putting them in the recycling bin poses a risk of contaminating everything in the bin.

“Some of the material being disposed of through landfills and incinerators could be recycled or composted in most metropolitan communities without great difficulty,” Kendall said.

Michigan recycles more than 90% of bottles and cans, but bottles and cans represent only 2% of all the waste Michiganders recycle every year. Almost 53% of the state’s municipal solid waste goes to landfills instead of recycling facilities. Lansing and East Lansing, for example, recycle nearly 7,500 tons of waste annually. While the cities have a relatively low contamination rate of 8%-10%, that number is on the rise, according to data provided by both municipalities.

“By encouraging people to focus on the basics and think about what they’re recycling before they toss it, we can improve our environment and build stronger communities,” Harkins said.

Five decades have passed since Michigan’s historic accomplishment with the bottle deposit legislation earned the state national recognition as an environmental champion.

“Over that time, Michigan has gotten complacent,” said O’Brien. “We can – and must – become America’s leaders again in recycling. The EGLE campaign is a tremendous opportunity for Michigan to advance to the next level of performance in protecting our environment.”

More information about the Know It Before You Throw It campaign is available at RecyclingRaccoons.org.

To stay up to date on other EGLE news, follow us at Michigan.gov/MIEnvironment.