Jackson County Recycling: Encouraging Sustainability Through Recycling
Recycling Information
Recycling Facts
In Michigan, food waste and mixed paper make up 13.6% and 12% of trash headed to the landfill, respectively. Other recyclable items that end up in the trash include corrugated cardboard and plastic packaging. The EPA estimates that around 75% of what we throw away has market value as a recyclable material.
-In the US, we throw away approximately 4.5 pounds of trash per person every day!
-In Michigan, the recycling rate is 15%. How can you help increase that number?
-The average American spends 8 months over their lifespan opening junk mail! Recycle that junk mail rather than throwing it out!
According to EGLE, the market value of all recyclable products that ended up in the landfill in Michigan in 2015 is just shy of $370,000,000!
Interested in seeing what opportunities are available in Jackson County to increase our recycling rate?
Every year, the Recycling Coordinator at the Jackson County Conservation District will
create an annual booklet with tips, ideas, events of interest, and more. Click the PDF Icon
to check out the 2022 Recycling Guide now!
What happens to recycled material?
Do you ever wonder where your recycled items end up? Here is a short list of commonly recycled items and examples of what they may be turned into:
Plastic bottles- Carpeting, clothing, other textiles
Plastic milk jugs- Park benches, playgound equipment
Glass- Architectural and structural building blocks
Aluminum- New aluminum cans and foil
Steel- Car parts and construction materials
Paper- Home insulation, newsprint, paperboard packaging, tissues
Tires- Tire-derived fuel, ground rubber for playgrounds, building material
Single-stream Recycling
In Jackson County, waste haulers utilize a 'single-stream' collection program. This program allows you to put all of your recyclables into one bag, or cart. Many waste haulers choose to use one truck for both trash and recyclables, resulting in using a specific bag color for recyclables. Once the truck is back at the management facility (called the Materials Recovery Facility), the special recycling bags are removed and the items are separated and processed separately. The team at Granger has this to say about their blue bag program:
"This type of recycling is cost-effective and efficient, as well as environmentally friendly since it uses only one truck instead of both a trash truck and a recycling truck. These blue recycling bags are specially designed to better withstand transport in a trash truck and their color makes them more visible so they can be easily separated from trash once the trucks return to Granger’s facility. Granger bales the recyclables all together and they are later shipped to a single-stream sorting facility before being processed into new products."