Upper Peninsula well represented among NextCycle Michigan teams

Today’s MI Environment story was previously published by NextCycle Michigan and has been updated at the bottom to reflect the latest projects in the Upper Peninsula.

Recyclers and composters in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.) face all the challenges of lower Michigan’s rural areas:

• Lack of convenient access to recycling for households and businesses
• Local economic challenges make funding difficult,
• Often being overlooked for business opportunities and state and federal resources, and
• Logistics challenges — having a lot of area to cover as well as longer distances to processing facilities and end markets.

And in much of the U.P., “rural” is an understatement. In fact, according to The Munising Beacon, the peninsula has approximately 30% of Michigan’s landmass but just 3% of its population. To top it off, it’s not unusual for many areas of the U.P. to get over 150 inches of snow annually (National Weather Service).

The result has been a recycling capture rate of less than 2%, compared with approximately 20% statewide (CUPPAD).

However, according to the Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission (CUPPAD): “Surveys of U.P. residents have shown that people want to recycle, and that those who do are willing to drive to locations to participate. Businesses in the region have incorporated recycling into their sustainability or material-sourcing plans, creating more demand for products, new entrepreneurial activities, and greater awareness of the economic and environmental benefits.”

Further, CUPPAD reports that “Few cities and townships currently have agreements or infrastructure in place to collect recyclable materials, however, citizens and businesses are engaged in recycling efforts, and there is a growing market for recycled materials used in manufacturing.”

U.P. residents’ enthusiasm for sustainable materials management is reflected in their remarkable representation among teams taking part in the Nextcycle Michigan Accelerator program, a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) initiative. Seven percent of NextCycle Michigan teams to date have hailed from the U.P. — disproportionately high for 3% of the state’s population!

Of the eight U.P.-based teams to date, four set out to develop local recycling programs, three focused on composting projects, and one is commercializing an innovative technology. Let’s learn more about a few of these projects.

Two U.P. teams accelerated efforts to develop county recycling programs, summarized below. To understand them, it is important to be aware of the efforts of the Marquette County Solid Waste Management Authority. They are known by their call to action, Recycle 906. The number 906 here refers to their area code which encompasses the entire U.P.

Recycle 906 developed a modern materials recovery facility and has made it known that it is willing and able to contract with all 15 counties of the U.P. to sort and market their recyclable cardboard, paper, and containers. By creating this reliable hub-and-spoke processing opportunity, Recycle 906 has supported a flurry of recycling improvements in the region. Both featured NextCycle Michigan U.P. community recycling projects plan to use Recycle 906 as their processing partner.

Dickinson Conservation District

The Dickinson Conservation District used the NextCycle Michigan I2P3 accelerator to get down to the practical details of their plan to provide curbside recycling for the towns of Iron Mountain, Kingsford, and Norway and recycle drop-off sites to serve the seven townships in the district. With the help of NextCycle Michigan coaches and mentors, the team: