In 1978 Recycle Ann Arbor founded the first curbside recycling program in Michigan. Fast forward and they are now celebrating their 40th anniversary. Over the years, their growth has been immense and that could not have been done without their different divisions. These are the curbside program, recovery yard, drop-off station, and reuse center.
Getting started, Recycle Ann Arbor wanted to prove to the city that recycling would work and that people would want to recycle. They dove in, without the city’s support, and started the curbside program with volunteers. Recycle Ann Arbor received great feedback and high participation levels from the program. After that they started their drop off station and continued to grow.
At the curb and drop-off center, Recycle Ann Arbor takes a number of hard to recycle items. When it comes to organics, though, they also help collect for zero waste events. They have been offering zero waste event services for almost 7 years. Now they have a 90% diversion rate at events. Part of this success, was having the education and outreach to show people how to properly recycle and compost. Recycle Ann Arbor knows that you can’t just talk about the importance of recycling, you have to actually step up and do something about it.
Being a role model, is how Recycle Ann Arbor is keeping their mission and goals in mind. They know that recycling is important, but reducing and reusing are the first options people should look for. Just like with their organics program for zero waste events, Recycle Ann Arbor knew they could not just talk the talk when it came to encouraging people to reuse. That is how they grew to develop their reuse center. Here, they take as much as they can. They even have a focus on building materials that compliments their recovery yard, where they work to save construction and demolition materials from entering the waste stream.
“You can always talk about these issues and passions, but you have to get beyond that and act.”
None of this would be possible without the amazing education and outreach that Recycle Ann Arbor provides to grow participation in the community. They offer an E newsletter and an A to Z guide on their website for material recycling. When Recycle Ann Arbor looks to the future, they want to continue to grow, especially with their construction and demolition program. Making people more aware of how to save these materials, is essential. Another goal in the future is to get their Material Recovery Facility up and running, and grow their drop off locations. Recycle Ann Arbor has proven that people want to recycle since day one, and their determination to grow will always help the community continue to help reduce, reuse, and recycle.
