What’s happening: An organics waste drop-off and material processing site in Durand; a headlight remanufacturer in Brown City; and a community-based redemption center on Beaver Island are among those projects to secure their share of $5.6 million in Circular Economy Grants from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). A total of 30 projects won the grants intended to advance recycling efforts and develop circular supply chains throughout the state.
What it means: Circular supply chains aim to minimize waste through recycling and other means, making better use of resources and preventing materials from ending up in landfills. The 30 projects selected for the grants achieve that through “material reuse, repair, remanufacturing, recycling, organics recovery, composting, and increasing markets for recovered materials,” per a release from EGLE, and can be found in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in communities urban, suburban, and rural throughout the state.
Small towns, big plans: Of those winning projects happening in Michigan’s more rural communities, it’s a list that includes Llink Technologies in Brown City, which received $250,000 toward equipment that increases the company’s capacity for remanufacturing damaged headlights; the townships of Peaine and St. James on Beaver Island, which jointly received $86,000 for equipment to establish a community redemption center for returnables; and Great Lakes Fusion in Durand, which received $199,760 to establish an organics waste drop-off and material processing site. Other rural communities to win grants include projects in Hancock, Holland, Ironwood, and Muskegon.
Why it’s important: “The Circular Economy Grants fund innovation and collaboration to reimagine the reuse and recycling of materials,” says Matt Flechter, recycling markets specialist with EGLE. “Through programs like
NextCycle and accompanying grants, Michigan is progressing toward the goal of a 30 percent recycling rate by 2029. Michigan’s economy and our environment both benefit when we attract and grow innovative businesses like these.”
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