The Michigan Recycling Coalition (MRC) shared its State of Recycling in Michigan report during the Michigan Environmental Council’s biannual legislative breakfast in Lansing recently. MRC representatives gave legislators and MEC staff the document titled “A Way Forward” and shared details regarding costs and benefits of establishing a best-in-class recycling program in Michigan.

According to this MRC report, Michigan is woefully behind other states in its recycling efforts and outlines ways the State of Michigan can meet its goal of utilizing 50 percent of its waste by 2015 as stated in the Solid Waste Policy. It also cites a Public Sector Consultants, Inc. study that shows by improving the state’s recycling performance to meet the 30 percent rate achieved by other Great Lakes states, Michigan would produce 7,000 to 13,000 jobs, as much as $300 million in income and $3.9 billion in receipts, and as much as $22 million in additional state tax revenue.

The report looks at the economics around a range of recyclable materials that could be recovered, reused and marketed instead of being buried in landfills. Saving resources, conserving energy, protecting the environment and creating jobs are all part of this proposed approach.

“If we were to make the $7.62 per capita investment outlined in our report, we can expect $44 per capita in return,” Kerrin O’Brien, MRC executive director, said. “This new information tells us how much a statewide recycling program would cost and how much we can expect in return. Recycling is a worthwhile investment.”

As a recycling advocacy organization, the MRC thinks the State of Michigan should fund a program with these six elements of a comprehensive statewide recycling system:

-measurement and data collection
-education and technical assistance
-community services and infrastructure
-market and economic development
-county planning and
-state solid waste policy administration

“If you have all the elements of a comprehensive system, you can achieve the economic and environmental rewards we spelled out in the report,” Mike Csapo, report author, MRC board member and general manager of the Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County, said.

“We wanted to identify what a best-in-class program would have. You can’t have five of six of these elements and be best in class.”

The MRC report encourages the State of Michigan to achieve best-in-class status and realize the economic and environmental benefits that come with achieving the state’s recycling goal. The estimated cost for the effort is $75,351,000 or $7.62 per capita. This compares to an initial raw material value of nearly $435 million or nearly $44 per capita, as well as the other job, income, and tax revenue benefits identified in the PSC study referenced in the MRC report.

“This is one way to help turn around and improve Michigan’s economy,” Csapo said. “Our purpose was not to endorse any particular way to raise money but to identify things the state should spend money on to achieve its own stated goals.”
A Way Forward is the result of months of compiling data from multiple sources, the work of an MRC committee, and Csapo. It now is available on the MRC website. For more information, call the MRC at 517-974-3672.

Nancy Stone is the Communications Liaison for Public Services at the City of Ann Arbor. She can be reached at nstone@a2gov.org. Visit www.a2gov.org for more information on local environmental topics including recycling, composting, water conservation and choices for green living.

Your World provides local environmental information to our community. Contributing partners include: Washtenaw County’s Environmental Health Division; the nonprofit Recycle Ann Arbor; the City of Ann Arbor’s Public Services Area, Natural Area Preservation, Systems Planning programs for Energy, Environmental Coordination, Solid Waste, Transportation, and Water Resources.