Recycling in Michigan would be much harder without all the hard work everyone does in our Michigan communities. The Eaton County Department of Resource Recovery is one of our partners that is a great example of all the hard work that is being done to help recycling.
The Eaton County Department of Resource Recovery (ECDRR) is run by enacting a solid waste ordinance in 1993 to license all waste throughout the county, to help promote public health and safety of its residents. With this, ECDRR has been able to run their recycling program without tax dollars and use insurance and surcharges for customers. Just five years ago the ECDRR had special collection events that less than 300 people would come out to. Now, this has successfully grown to receive a maxed turn out of around 800 people at each event.
Eaton County also has 8 recycling centers that are receiving surcharges to help pay for what they need to make recycling better. The funding and grants that are available for these recycling centers are the most important part of Eaton County’s recycling program. Without it they would not be able to survive. Because of this, spreading education and awareness is also imperative to growth and success. For example, the success of reaching more people and getting them to come out to the recycling events that go on. It has helped to increase the services that are available for residents in the county when they turn out at these events. The immense growth they have seen at recycling events was accomplished through more advertising and implementing an education system. ECDRR still struggles to find money in the budget for education and outreach, but based on all the success it brings in reaching more people in the community, they know the need is there to fit it in. That is why social media is such a great source for the ECDRR to reach more people and spread the word.
Looking towards the future, ECDRR still has many goals. One of these is to find a way to recycle mattresses in the area, to conserve much needed space in our landfills. Another thing that needs to be done is having the state level update the solid waste management plan that has not been updated since 1999. The plan is supposed to be reviewed and updated every five years, however this is no longer a requirement. If they did this, they have the potential to create more rules to allow more people to recycle, and grow into more categories, like composting. ECDRR is a strong organization and they do not plan to stop furthering their recycling goals anytime in the near future.
