Materials Michiganders recycled last year would fill the football stadiums at Ford Field, Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium and the Big House at the University of Michigan
EGLE also recently announced record-setting $15.6 million in recycling infrastructure grants to communities, non-profits and businesses across the state, including funding support for major new projects on tap in Flint, Detroit, Greater Grand Rapids and Alpena
Lansing-Recycling in Michigan is at an all-time high, state environmental leaders announced during the recent ‘Recycling State of the State’ virtual press conference.
The total amount of residential recycled materials being reported for fiscal year (FY) 2022 was 620,494 tons – that’s over 66,000 tons more than the previous new record set the year prior. Materials Michiganders recycled last year would fill the football stadiums at Ford Field, Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium and the Big House at the University of Michigan. Michiganders recycled over 339,000 tons of paper and paper products during FY 2022, more than 154,000 tons of metals, more than 71,000 tons of glass and over 45,000 tons of plastics and plastic products.
In addition, EGLE announced a record-setting combined total of nearly $16 million in grants through public-private partnerships including funding support for recycling infrastructure investments to help advance projects in Flint, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Alpena. EGLE Environmental Justice Public Advocate Regina Strong was joined at the online news conference by Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley; WM (formerly “Waste Management”) Great Lakes Area Vice President Aaron Johnson; Kent County Department of Public Works Director Darwin Baas; Detroit-based VMX International Founder and CEO Vickie Lewis; Alpena Mayor Pro-Tem and Northeast Michigan Materials Management Authority Chair Cindy Johnson; and EGLE Recycling Market Development Specialist Matt Flechter.
EGLE data show more Michiganders than ever – 75% of the state’s population – have access to recycling services. Since 2021, EGLE in collaboration with national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership have rolled out 48,468 new curbside recycling carts to communities around the state.
The expanded access is helping Michigan to steadily increase its recycling rate from what was historically the lowest in the Great Lakes region. The rate has risen from 14.25% prior to 2019, to 19.3% last year and now exceeds 21%, based on EGLE’s new 2023 analysis.
EGLE’s total allocation of $15.6 million in 2023 grants across the state is more than Michigan has ever invested in recycling infrastructure and technology, more than doubling last year’s record $7 million of investments.
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. Whitmer and the state Legislature are committed to raising Michigan’s recycling rate to 30% by 2029 and, ultimately raise it to 45%, exceeding the national recycling rate of 32%.
EGLE’s 2023 data analysis reflects the state’s improved recycling performance is helping Michigan advance toward the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, commissioned by Gov. Whitmer as a broadbased 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.
The City of Flint is receiving a $1 million EGLE grant that Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley says will go toward providing all 34,000 households in the city with a free 96-gallon recycling cart. The national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership is also pledging to support the new cart project with a grant of up to $3.3 million in additional funding for Flint. The city’s current recycling program requires the resident to provide their own bin to contain recyclable material at the curbside. Currently, most of the bins being used in Flint do not have lids and the fly-away material is a concern for a city that is fighting blight. The new carts are projected to increase the amount of materials recycled in Flint from 624 tons per-year to 5,400 tons per year, as well as improve resident participation and enhance safety for sanitation workers.
Recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing industries in Michigan create 72,500 jobs and contribute more than $17 billion to the state’s total economic output, EGLE data shows.
The results announced today come from a more than four-year review of statewide data by EGLE researchers that aligns with the 2019 launch of EGLE’s national award-winning “Know It Before You Throw It” recycling education campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoon Squad. The campaign’s aim 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. EGLE data show four in five Michiganders report taking action and changing their recycling behavior for the better following EGLE’s campaign.
