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The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) is awarding nearly $1.6 million in infrastructure grants to six public agency and nonprofit recipients in Washtenaw County, Michigan.
According to a news release from EGLE, the grants are part of EGLE’s strategy to support recycling infrastructure, improve the quality of recyclable materials and promote market development using the state’s Renew Michigan Fund that was created in 2019 to boost the state’s recycling efforts.
Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority (WWRA) is receiving $458,370 in infrastructure grants to purchase sorting equipment and a new truck to increase processing and collection capacity. According to EGLE, these funds will equip WWRA to accept new commercial and municipal customers. A new automated truck will increase workplace safety and enable WWRA to add 3,000 households per week, while the new sorting equipment doubles the capacity to sort plastics. WWRA is subsidized by five communities that work cooperatively to offer residential recycling programs in the townships of Dexter, Lyndon, Manchester and Lima as well as the city of Chelsea.
Washtenaw Regional Resource Management Authority (WRRMA) is receiving $118,605 to help continue WRRMA’s efforts to increase the quantity of member communities’ high-quality recyclables. WRRMA members consist of the charter townships of Ann Arbor, Pittsfield and Ypsilanti, Scio Township and the cities of Dexter, Saline and Ypsilanti. According to EGLE, WRRMA will use the funds to complete The Recycling Partnership’s “Feet on the Street” program at single-family residences in WRRMA communities beginning in the spring of 2021. That program provides recycling education to residents and curbside feedback through cart tagging efforts as well as metrics through a sorting process at material recovery facilities (MRFs).
Ann Arbor Public Schools is receiving $112,716 to increase access to recycling by installing recycling collection containers and promoting food reclamation activities throughout the district’s campuses and buildings that serve about 20,000 students. Additionally, EGLE says a refrigerated vehicle purchased through the grant will transport about 100 pounds of unused food daily to food distribution agencies.
The city of Ypsilanti will receive $73,440 to expand public space recycling through the purchase of recycling containers for the city’s downtown area, Depot Town and 12 public parks, EGLE says. Once the containers are installed, the city estimates it will divert about 11 tons of recyclables from Ypsilanti’s public trash containers.
Dexter Community Schools are receiving $17,608 in grants from EGLE to expand lunchroom recycling and establish food waste collection programs throughout the district, EGLE reports. The grant will help the schools to recycle more lunchroom items and achieve cost savings due to reduced trash pickups.
“The objective of the EGLE recycling infrastructure grants is to increase processing and collection capacity in Washtenaw County, improve access to community recycling programs and grow participation among the constituencies they serve by assisting them with the purchase of equipment and other items,” says Elizabeth Browne, assistant director of the Materials Management Division at EGLE. “In addition, several of these projects will have a direct impact on reducing the spread of infectious disease through greater use of automation, which aligns with Michigan’s efforts to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
In addition to the $1.6 million in infrastructure grants, EGLE also awarded $800,000 to Recycle Ann Arbor Nov. 18. That grant will help the Ann Arbor-based nonprofit to rebuild and reopen its MRF that has been closed since 2016. The new facility will be owned and operated by Recycle Ann Arbor.
EGLE reports that its grants to Washtenaw County will help to build on the state’s Know It Before You Throw It recycling education campaign it launched in 2019. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state legislators also have stated that they want to double the state’s recycling rate to 30 percent by 2025 and eventually reach 45 percent annually. The state’s current 15 percent recycling rate is the lowest in the Great Lakes region and ranks among the nation’s lowest recycling rates, EGLE says.