Tagged: recycling

People trying to redeem deposits on bottles and cans purchased outside of Michigan may face some stiff fines in the future.

Michigan loses millions of dollars every year cashing in returnable bottles and cans bought out of state.  Michigan has one of the highest bottle deposits in the country.

Tomorrow, a state House committee will discuss imposing fines, as much as five thousand dollars, on people who try to fraudulently redeem out-of-state returnables. They could also face jail time.

Mark Kurlyandchik, author of “Waste Matters,” is tracking his trash.

Kurlyandchik’s recent Hour Magazine article investigated Michigan’s treatment of its waste materials.

Some of his findings were striking.

“The average American produces almost four and a half pounds of trash a day. The U.S. makes up four percent of the world’s population, but we generate 30 percent of the global waste,” he said.

Kurlyandchik noted the country’s culture of consumerism as a reason for this large amount of waste.

General Motors is celebrating an environmental milestone. The company says a Lansing autopart distribution center is the automaker’s 100th facility to go “landfill free.”

A state House committee has voted to exempt drink pouches from the state’s 10-cent bottle deposit law. The pouches are made of plastic, aluminum, and paper. They are not biodegradable or recyclable. Harold McGovern is the president of a beverage wholesale company. He said there are environmental benefits to pouches.

"It's a fraction of the up-front emissions from the standpoint of a carbon footprint. More importantly, the emissions on the transportation cycle - whether it’s delivery to our warehouse, whether it’s delivery to stores - also has dramatic incremental savings because of the weight difference between aluminum, glass, and this pouch technology," said McGovern.

If the House bill becomes law, it would preempt a state Treasury determination that the deposit could apply to alcoholic drink pouches. Environmental groups say the state should not encourage packaging that’s not recyclable.

Recycling is up 80-percent since the City of Grand Rapids instituted a new single-stream recycling program. With single-stream people can put all kinds of stuff - glass, plastic, cardboard and paper - into a single cart (no sorting needed). The city picks up the recyclable stuff at the curb for free.

So you’ve put away all the ornaments and the lights and the tinsel... and you have that bare tree in your living room... what now?  It’s not illegal in Michigan to throw your Christmas tree away... but a lot of cities and counties do recycle them... and chip them up into mulch.  The recycling website Earth 911 lets you type in your zip code to find tree drop-off sites near you.

I talked with Marsha Gray - she's the executive director of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association. She says the first thing you should do if you want to recycle your tree is call the people who pick up your trash.

“You want to ask them if they do a separate collection for the trees. If they’re collecting them separately from your regular trash, that means they’re most likely recycling, probably chipping those trees into mulch. If they’re collecting at the same time and they’re going right into the bin that means they will go to the landfill."

Marsha's tips for recycling - or reusing your tree:

• If your waste hauler won't recycle your tree... call your city or county park department.  There's a good chance they offer a drop-off site for the first few weeks of January.
• Stand your tree up next to the birdfeeder for a little perching spot for birds while they wait their turn at the feeder.
• Use the branches as plant stakes
• If you're really ambitious, break out the chainsaw and remove the branches (you don't want to burn these in a fire - they can spark!), cut the trunk into logs, and add them to your log pile to season for a year.  Free firewood for next Christmas!