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On America Recycles Day, groups educate on benefits of reducing rubbish
In a perfect recycling world, that plastic water bottle you drink out of today was a water bottle years ago, and its plastics will form a water bottle years from now. But the reality is only 14 percent of nondeposit plastics find their way to recycling centers. Most end up in a landfill. That's something recycling organizations look to stop as they work on educating groups and organizing efforts to increase recycling.
"We think that recycling is an industry we can grow here in Michigan," said Kerrin O'Brien, executive director of the nonprofit Michigan Recycling Coalition. "Our goal is to increase participation at all levels."
Today is the 11th annual America Recycles Day. It's designed to jump-start local initiatives to improve community or business recycling efforts.
A big part of it is getting more residents to fill their recycling bins, said Jim DiMarco of GLR Recycling Solutions. Most southeast Michigan communities have curbside recycling, but only a few people use the programs, he said.
"We're trying to educate people on why they should be putting more in the bin," DiMarco said.
"Right now, it's probably about 20 to 25 percent of the people recycle. If we could get just a few more percentage points of people, we could save volumes from the landfill."
Michiganians generated more than 41 million cubic yards of solid waste in fiscal year 2007, according to the state's Department of Environmental Quality. That's down from more than 47 million cubic yards in 2003. The amount of trash getting into landfills is 10 to 20 percent higher, depending on the year studied, because Michigan continues to import trash from other areas, with most coming from Canadian provinces.
Another sticking point is people don't realize how easy it is to recycle -- if your community has a curbside recycling program, DiMarco said. Detroit is a notable exception -- and one of the biggest cities in the nation without a comprehensive recycling program.
Gone are the days when people had to bundle newspapers and separate plastics, paper and cardboard. Recycling
trucks throughout the region end up at the GLR's plant in Roseville.
DiMarco said people just need to throw it all into their recycling bin. Machines and workers will sort it out when it
gets to the recycling plant. And, he said, people can probably recycle a lot more than they think.
"We take pots and pans; we take plastics," DiMarco said. "We take all the items that people think we don't take --newspapers, junk mail, phone books, yogurt and margarine tubs."
The recyclables -- about 5,000 tons a month -- are broken down by commodity. Paper goes to a mill where it's remade into new newspaper. Aluminum and tin go a smelter, where they're melted down. Plastics go to a plant where they're washed, chopped, ground and melted. The end result is plastic beads that can be reshaped and made into new water bottles.
You can reach Steve Pardo at (734) 462-2191 or
spardo@detnews.com
Recyclables are sorted Friday at GLR Recycling Solutions in Roseville.
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