New Washtenaw County Solid Waste Authority Wins $125,000 Grant

Ann Arbor, MI: The Washtenaw Regional Resource Management Authority (WRRMA, pronounced “warm-ah,”) is highlighting its first year in operation as Michigan’s newest waste authority with an early success.

Officials announced today WRRMA is receiving a coveted $125,000 Recycling Quality Improvement grant from national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership (TRP) and the Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Environment (EGLE).

The new TRP-EGLE grant will support WRRMA’s goal of increasing the quantity of member communities’ high-quality recyclables. WRRMA members include the Charter Townships of Ann Arbor, Pittsfield, and Ypsilanti, Scio Township, and the cities of Dexter, Saline, and Ypsilanti, representing a population of over 150,000 Washtenaw County residents.

“We are excited to partner with WRRMA and EGLE to capture more quality recyclables that can be transformed into raw materials, creating a healthier and less wasteful planet, a stronger economy and a community that is more knowledgeable about the benefits of recycling,” said Jill Martin, Director of Community Programs at The Recycling Partnership.

“We know from experience that educating residents to recycle the correct way is key to creating and sustaining successful recycling programs for WRRMA’s member communities in Washtenaw County,” Martin said.

The Recycling Quality Improvement grant provides funding for WRRMA to complete TRP’s “Feet on the Street” tagging program at single-family residences in WRRMA communities. The program provides recycling education to residents, provides curbside feedback through tagging carts, and records pre- and post- program metrics through a sorting process at material recovery facilities. The tagging program has been successfully implemented in communities throughout the nation, obtaining a 20-40% decrease in recycling contamination.

Recycling contamination occurs when materials not accepted for recycling are put in recycling bins, such as plastic bags or items with food residue. Data show an estimated 30-35% of the materials currently recycled by Washtenaw County residents in WRRMA’s service territory are contamination; WRRMA plans to kick off its program in Spring 2021 with a target of reducing recycling contamination by 40% by Fall 2021.

“It is exciting to see the region partner together to address common recycling challenges through WRRMA,” said WRRMA Board Chair Ron Akers, who also serves as director of the City of Ypsilanti’s Dept. of Public Services.

“Issues such as contamination and increasing costs can be better addressed regionally and we are fortunate that the member communities of WRRMA are willing to work together on these common goals,” Akers said. “The release of regional collection guidance is an initial step of larger plans to address contamination in a targeted way which we will be implementing next year. The goal of these efforts is to reduce costs by increasing the value of our recycling stream and make strides towards a stronger recycling system in Washtenaw County.”

Improving the quality of materials that Washtenaw County residents recycle is a high priority for the new solid waste authority, said Washtenaw County Public Works Director Theo Eggermont.

“Citizens, businesses, government agencies, institutions, universities, and political leaders all have to make decisions on how best to address solid waste management in Washtenaw County, and the new authority will help provide the framework for making those decisions,” Eggermont said.

“Washtenaw County residents recognize recycling is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do,” he said. “Recycling right not only saves Washtenaw County taxpayers money by reducing the cost of sorting recycling, but creates and supports jobs and protects the environment.”

Another goal of the WRRMA-TRP-EGLE effort is to provide a common list of recyclable materials across all municipalities with consistent messaging. Currently, all WRRMA municipalities accept clean and dry plastics, paper, cardboard, tin/steel cans, aluminum, and glass, except for the City of Ypsilanti which doesn’t accept glass in curbside containers. Recycling those kinds of items with minimal contamination results in higher commodity prices at end-markets which communities can leverage to decrease the costs associated with recycling.

The new research and training activities planned for Washtenaw County come as Michigan and states across the U.S. are seeing significant increases in the volume of curbside recycling due to more Americans sheltering and working from home to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 disease.

Now, more than ever, Michigan residents view recycling as an essential public service. And during a time of social distancing where many non-essential employers are closed and commercial recycling is near an all-time low, producers see residential recycling programs as a critical supplier of manufacturing feedstock so more companies can make their products from recycled content instead of new materials.

“We are looking forward to partnering with WRRMA, the communities it serves in Washtenaw County and The Recycling Partnership on this data-driven approach,” said Liz Browne, acting director of EGLE’s Materials Management Division.

“It’s more important than ever to communicate with the public in order to improve the quality of materials being recycled,” Browne said. “We all have a role to play in helping businesses get materials to make the essential products Michigan needs for our economic recovery from COVID-19, such as toilet paper, food containers, and shipping boxes.”

The TRP-EGLE program aims to bring WRRMA’s residents and communities together to increase the quality of local recyclables, improve the long-term sustainability of local recycling systems, and increase the recycling rate as set in the Washtenaw County Solid Waste Plan.

The TRP initiative with WRRMA aligns with EGLE’s “Know It Before You Throw It” recycling education campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoon Squad. The campaign is promoting best practices and emphasizes that recycling materials saves energy, reduces water use, decreases greenhouse gases, conserves resources and translates into local jobs.

WRRMA communities meet monthly. Visit wrrma.org to learn more about the new authority and find recycling resources.

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Theo Eggermont, Public Works Director

Washtenaw County Department of Public Works

(734) 222-6864

eggermontt@washtenaw.org

Media Contact:

Mike Nowlin

cell: 989-450-0855

nowlin@gudmarketing.com