Michigan Facing Recycling Challenges
- Jul 17, 2019
- 1 min read
Recycling is changing around us worldwide, and Michigan is trying to face those challenges to make recycling better than it was before.
The Department of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy or EGLE has launched an educational statewide campaign called Know It Before You Throw It. This campaign will educate the residents of Michigan on recycling. Michigan's current recycling rate is only at 15% which is one of lowest in the country. By 2025 EGLE would like to have doubled it to a 30% recycling rate.Almost 53% of the state’s municipal solid waste goes to landfills instead of recycling facilities.
They narrowed down two goals to focus on during the campaign. The first is to improve the quality of recyclables collected. This meaning, to reduce contamination that goes into recycling bins, and understanding what items can and can’t be recycled. Second, to grow local markets for recyclable materials. There are places in our state that don't accept certain recyclable materials, a good example of that is glass in Jackson. As they move forward with these changes in with recycling, it's important that we also continue to learn, and understand the process.
In order to increase the appeal of the campaign, they created the "Recycling Raccoon Squad", with each raccoon having their own fun personality and recycling "expertise". For more information on the campaign, and to meet the Raccoon Squad, click here.
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