Detroit Scores $1 Million To Boost Recycling Efforts
The city discards more than 100,000 tons of trash each year that could be recycled. New grants could educate citizens about what’s allowed.
State authorities recently announced $2 million dollars in grants aimed at increasing Michigan’s recycling rate and educating the public on what’s recyclable.
Half of the funding is going to the city of Detroit, including money for recycling carts.
EGLE is doing “everything we can to utilize state resources to make things more accessible.” – Liesl Clark, EGLE
“Citizens care about the environment, they care about the water and they connect recycling as a step to something they can do as an individual to make a difference,” says Liesl Clark, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
Click the player above to hear the announcement of recycling grants.
Michigan lags behind other Midwest states in the state’s recycling rate, with just 15 percent of waste being re-used. The grants are aimed at making recycling easier for residents so the state can reach the goal of a 30-percent recycle rate.
“We’re hoping this is another way to give them the tools in order to improve that recycling rate,” she says.
Jobs, Economy Booster
Some of the money will go toward a recycling education campaign. Clark points out that over half of Michiganders think you can recycle plastic shopping bags, and three-quarters don’t realize recyclables need to be rinsed out before being put in the bin.
Some of the money will go towards the purchase of 16,400 curbside recycling carts and nearly 4,000 multifamily containers for Detroiters.
Proper education “is a huge barrier,” says Clark. EGLE is doing “everything we can to utilize state resources to make things more accessible.”
“As a community, we’re discarding more than 100,000 tons of materials each year that could be recycled instead of being tossed in the trash,” said Democratic state Senator Stephanie Chang, of Detroit in a statement. “This grant will help us divert even more waste from our landfills.”
According to a study by EGLE, increased recycling could lead to 13,000 more jobs in the state and an influx of $300 million dollars.
