The Recycling Partnership announces available grants for Michigan communities

The Recycling Partnership, in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), announced $575,000 in grants for Michigan communities to improve the quality of residential recycling.

The grants are available for Michigan communities to introduce communitywide projects aimed at fighting recycling contamination and improving the quality of materials residents recycle at curbside or drop-off locations.

“After the impressive results from previous grant projects, we’re excited to be able to offer this opportunity to additional Michigan communities in collaboration with The Recycling Partnership,” Liz Browne, director of EGLE’s Materials Management Division, says.

In addition to utilizing the principles of The Recycling Partnership’s Know It Before You Throw It recycling education campaign, grantees with curbside recycling service will utilize the organization’s Feet on the Street cart-tagging program—an initiative designed to improve the quality of curbside recycling by providing residents personalized and real-time education and feedback on their curbside recycling practices. Grantees with drop-off recycling services will use a modified version of the Feet on the Street program to combat recycling contamination and illegal dumping at recycling drop-off sites while also improving awareness and participation in the local recycling program.

“Capitalizing on national expertise through engaging The Recycling Partnership as part of EGLE’s grant project was a brilliant strategy,” Mike Csapo, general manager at Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority (RRRASOC), says. RRRASOC is an intergovernmental, municipal solid waste authority that helps its Michigan member communities provide effective recycling programs. “Our work is already yielding tangible, unexpected benefits beyond those anticipated when the project was conceived. The project will yield data, strategies and technology that will provide lasting value in addition to accomplishing the original goals and objectives.”

Selected drop-off recycling program grantees will benefit from inclusive signage and site improvements, security upgrades for features such as cameras, increased recycling participation, and other opportunities to educate households on what is and isn’t recyclable.

All Michigan community recycling programs are eligible to submit an application for grants up to $4 per household for curbside programs and up to $3 per household for drop-off programs. Applications are due Aug. 20 and instructions can be found in the request for proposal (RFP) at recyclingpartnership.org/michiganrfp.