The recycling rate in Michigan is at a record high for the fourth consecutive year, according to a new analysis of data from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
The EGLE research shows Michigan has steadily increased its recycling rate from 14.25 percent before 2019 to 23 percent last year and over 25 percent now. EGLE forecasts that Michigan is on track to achieve the state’s goal of a 30 percent recycling rate by 2029.
In fiscal year 2024, Michiganders recycled more than 71,000 tons of glass, 329,000 tons of paper and paper products and 56,000 tons of plastics and plastic products. The total amount of residential recycled materials reported for FY 2024 was 723,174 tons – exceeding the year before by more than 19,000 tons.
This equates to every person in Michigan recycling nearly 143 pounds of cardboard boxes, milk cartons, soup cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, food waste and other materials over a 12-month span, EGLE researchers found.
“The volume of materials Michiganders recycled in FY 2024 equals the weight of 10 Mackinac Bridges and would fill the football stadiums of the Detroit Lions, University of Michigan and Michigan State University as well as the hockey stadium of national champion Western Michigan University,” said Matt Flechter, EGLE recycling market development specialist.
Highlights from a new EGLE-commissioned survey show that since EGLE’s 2019 launch of the ongoing national award-winning “Know It Before You Throw It” recycling education campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoon Squad:
•Three in four Michiganders report taking action and changing their recycling behavior.
•The number of Michiganders who know that recyclables should not be bagged in plastic when placed at curbside has more than doubled, from 14 percent to 36 percent.
•The number of Michiganders who recognize pizza boxes with a little grease are recyclable has almost doubled, from 26 percent pre-2019 to 47 percent now.
•Nearly 66 percent of Michiganders now know where to check recycling rules if needed.
•Michigan residents report they are recycling an average of 44 percent of their household waste, up from 38 percent pre-2019.
Recycling in Michigan supports 72,500 jobs and contributes more than $17 billion a year to the state’s economy, according to an analysis by EGLE’s NextCycle Michigan Initiative.
“Recycling properly saves Michigan taxpayers money by increasing the value of recycled materials, supporting Michigan jobs and improving the health of the environment,” Flechter said.
“We know Michiganders want to recycle the right way, and through our ‘Know It Before You Throw It’ campaign and recycling infrastructure investments, we are providing them with the tools to do just that.”
EGLE and national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership since 2019 have together rolled out more than 333,000 new curbside recycling carts in 34 communities statewide, serving more than a combined 1.2 million Michiganders.
To further expand recycling access in Michigan, EGLE also announced more than $11.8 million in grants (listed below) that will advance recycling and help develop the state’s business supply
chains. These grants are provided under three different EGLE programs.
Recycling Infrastructure Grants
EGLE is unveiling more than $4.6 million in Recycling Infrastructure Grants that will bolster Michigan’s recycling programs. The recipients are:
- City of Holland: $1 million to promote a new drop-off facility to recycle standard materials and hard-to-recycle items, designed to be used as a model for other communities.
- Recycle Ann Arbor: $800,000 to expand residential recycling drop-off access and significantly increase capacity for diverting construction and demolition waste in Southeast Michigan.
- City of Detroit: $780,000 to increase participation in the residential curbside recycling program by providing 24,000 additional recycling carts to households across Detroit.
- Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA): $696,000 for the materials recovery facility that processes approximately 16 tons of recyclables an hour. SOCRRA plans to install state-of-the-art equipment that uses cameras and software to improve material sorting.
- Calhoun County Comprehensive Recycling Center: $500,000 to help build a comprehensive drive-through drop-off recycling center.
- Goodwill’s Green Works, Detroit: $300,000 to increase collection and processing capacity for its existing appliance recycling program through new equipment, vehicles and infrastructure
upgrades. Project support from EGLE will provide the initial investment to scale these programs to offer free drop-off and community collection events in Southeast Michigan with plans to scale statewide in partnership with Goodwill Association of Michigan. - Ionia Conservation District: $222,622 to construct four recycling drop-off facilities in Ionia County.
- City of Auburn (Bay County): $94,000 to distribute curbside recycling carts to all single-family homes in the city.
- Pentwater Township: $93,000 for upgrades to the recycling drop-off facility that will allow it to stay open during the winter.
- Peaine Township: $45,920 for expansion of the recycling drop-off facility located on Beaver Island.
- Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC): $45,000 to help build a recycling drop-off facility that will increase recycling access for community members at BMIC and the surrounding area.
- Missaukee County: $37,500 to purchase a vehicle that will allow for increased cardboard collection from county businesses.
- City of Bay City: $14,000 to purchase additional equipment for the city’s recycling drop-off facility.
- Tuscola County: $10,500 to assist with infrastructure to increase recycling collection from county businesses.
- Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority: $7,680 for additional recycling collection containers in the Huron-Clinton Metroparks.
NextCycle Michigan Circular Economy Grants
Recipients of EGLE’s 2025 NextCycle Michigan grants totaling more than $5.6 million are:
- Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit: $235,000 to buy equipment, train staff and promote the Community Uplift Program that provides no-cost salvaged building materials like doors,
windows, lumber and appliances to low-income residents. - Chippin’ In, Detroit: $167,000 to buy equipment and develop collection kiosks for chip bags and other recyclable materials to be processed into warming kits for distribution to homeless populations in underserved communities.
- Cirba Solutions, Wixom: $193,155 to install an automated battery-sorting line using artificial intelligence technology to improve the efficiency and economics of battery recycling.
- City of Ann Arbor: $99,630 to engage with frontline communities, businesses and institutions (those affected most by environmental hazards) to create a Circular Economy Action Plan.
- Design Declassified, Grand Rapids: $250,000 to scale operations to transform locally sourced plastic waste into durable, solid-surface materials for countertops, tables, wall panels, furniture and more.
- Ed’s Used Parts and Salvage, Hancock: $116,685 to buy equipment to prepare organic materials for composting on-site, establishing the first municipal waste separation and organics recycling facility in the Western Upper Peninsula.
- Fibarcode, Ann Arbor: $43,000 for research and testing of embedded fabric labeling technologies to improve sorting of textiles for reuse, repair and recycling.
- Goodwill Industries of West Michigan, Muskegon: $250,000 to develop a process for manufacturing of eco-conscious wood products made from unsellable and scrap wood-based materials received through its donated goods programs.
- Goodwill’s Green Works, Detroit: $250,000 to expand the appliance recycling program and launch an appliance repair workforce training program to extend the useful life of repairable appliances.
- Great Lakes Fusion, Durand: $199,760 to establish a residential and commercial organics waste drop-off and material processing site in Durand.
- Great Lakes Recycling of Oak Park: $155,000 to buy equipment to safely and efficiently dismantle used electric vehicle battery packs and ship them to recycling streams per U.S. Department
of Transportation safety regulations. - Hendricks Foundation, Harper Woods: $166,541 to buy advanced equipment to expand the ability to recycle electronic waste and train students on electronic diagnostic and repair skills.
- Llink Technologies, Brown City: $250,000 to buy an upgraded robotic station to increase the capacity of remanufacturing damaged headlights into warrantied headlights that look and function like new.
- Make Food Not Waste, Southfield: $234,806 to test food scrap collection in multifamily housing locations.
- Metro Food Rescue, Detroit: $250,000 to pilot a program to rescue produce daily from vendors at the Detroit Produce Terminal to be distributed to community food pantries, shelters and kitchens or to be separated for composting.
- Michigan Energy Options, East Lansing: $188,000 to buy equipment to collect used but still usable solar panels and install the panels on projects with social impact, such as community organizations and affordable housing complexes.
- NextEnergy, Detroit: $210,492 to research and field-test an autonomous robotic collection platform and reclaiming process to repurpose commercial organic waste from restaurants into value-
added products for use by the same participating restaurants. - OkaTerra, Grand Rapids: $218,000 to enhance material prototyping and carry out environmental and safety testing for an initiative focused on commercializing the use of waste wool from
Michigan farmers to create innovative products, including sound-absorbing screens for the contract furniture market. - PakItGreen, East Lansing: $120,056 to buy equipment to produce and commercialize a packaging product from long-fiber food and agricultural waste in combination with a sustainable, food-
safe polymer. - Perfect Circle Recycling, Grand Rapids: $155,000 to buy three 10,000-gallon refrigerated tanks to integrate into existing material de-packaging processes, enabling the recovery of surplus milk
from suppliers and repurposing it as animal feed for local farms. - PLOP, Southfield: $250,000 to source materials, develop product and enter the market by using 3D printing technology to convert mixed-color glass waste into premium architectural tiles.
- Post Rock, Ann Arbor: $56,000 to scale conversion of waste plastics into durable building materials and secure key safety certification for fire and smoke propagation.
- Public Thread, Grand Rapids: $210,700 to research and develop capacity growth and processes for material collection and sorting, as well as collaborate with local designers and innovators to
upcycle postconsumer apparel and textiles. - Ramme’s, Ironwood: $150,000 to buy equipment and hire additional staff to recycle copper from holiday lights, extension cords and many other plastic-coated copper-containing materials.
- Recycle Ann Arbor: $249,999 to design and install a robotics and recognition system to capture and recover an additional 100-200 tons of valuable recyclables annually.
- Revolin Sports, Holland: $242,000 for cutting-edge research and machinery to fabricate lightweight, high-performance composite materials made from recycled thermoplastics into products such as pickleball paddles and eventually in industries such as automotive, office furniture and construction.
- Peaine Township and St. James Township, Beaver Island: $86,000 to buy reverse vending machines and supporting equipment to establish a community redemption center at the Beaver Island Transfer Station and Recycling Center.
- Takeout Takeout, Lansing: $185,400 to pilot new inventory tracking systems, including the use of smart collection bins, for reusables at venues and restaurant hubs.
- Veolectra, Farmington Hills: $250,000 to develop a prototype for a portable energy storage system that provides backup power for first responders and in critical natural disaster situations using repurposed EV battery packs.
- We ReUse, Bloomfield: $200,000 to buy equipment to manufacture reusable stainless steel foodware products to replace single-use paper and plastic products and set up pilot programs in Detroit-area organizations providing food service.
Published May 2025