The city of Detroit is about to drastically increase its recycling efforts.
Using nearly $800,000 in grants, the city plans to buy 16,400 curbside recycling carts, about 4,000 multifamily containers, and a collection vehicle.
Part of the funding comes from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), which is striving to double Michigan’s recycling rate to 30 percent by 2025.
EGLE launched a “Know It Before You Throw It” recycling campaign last year to urge more people to recycle.
“We are committed to informing and inspiring more people than ever before in Detroit and across Michigan about how to recycle better,” EGLE Director Liesl Clark said Monday in a news release. “Increasing recycling and improving the quality of materials we’re recycling is not only the right thing to do for our environment, but it also saves energy, reduces water use, decreases greenhouse gases, conserves resources and translates into local jobs.”
Michigan’s 15 percent recycling rate is lower than all states in the Great Lakes region and ranks among the lowest in the nation.
“It’s time for each of us to step up our efforts and increase the quantity and quality of recycling in every Detroit home and business,” Detroit Office of Sustainability Director Joel Howrani Heeres said.
The Recycling Partnership, a Virginia-based nonprofit, pitched in $325,000 of the nearly $800,000.
City of Detroit
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