In Emmet County, 95% of the material recycled supplies Michigan businesses. This rural community has made recycling a priority and it shows. They have 13 drop off sites collecting 28 different materials, and 32 more materials collected at their MRF. Recycling is very popular for these 30,000 residents who participate, alongside 400 businesses, in the curbside recycling service. Before Emmet County even offered a curbside program, they had 80% of residents participating in the drop off sites. 60% of households in the county have curbside collection now, and Emmet County only hopes to grow that number.

Emmet County is very unique when it comes to recycling because they don’t have a tax funding base. Instead they have all waste going through their transfer station, and fund recycling through that. This is a model that will help other communities that struggle to find the funds to grow recycling.

One way that Emmet County has grown recycling in recent years is through composting services. Four years ago they started composting with 20 businesses for biweekly collections. Additionally, in 2017 they were able to start working with residential organics and started accepting it at their Pleasantview Road Drop-off Center. Making organics collection easy is what helps Emmet County succeed and continue to grow their services. Convenience, along with keeping education out their for residents is what helps participation levels, especially before their social media outreach increased.

Food waste reduction is a focus goal that Emmet County has when they look towards the future. They hope to continue to increase composting through education, outreach at events, and commercial/residential collection. They also hope to plan improvements to their dual stream MRF, and grow participating at their drop of sites. Emmet County knows how important it is to grow recycling in Michigan and they want everyone in their area to reach out and participate in any way they can.