Those involved in recycling in the Upper Peninsula--whether it be government officials, coalition members, or recycling business owners--all seem to come to one conclusion when asked about the state of recycling in the U.P.: Improvement is necessary.
"It's abysmal," says one owner of a recycling business, who asked to remain anonymous. "It's a cowboy mentality out there. When they're done with something, it's just dump it where you can."
That's the harshest assessment found when researching for this story. Others interviewed agreed that improvement is necessary, but they do point to some steps that have already been made.
There is curbside recycling in some communities throughout the U.P., although less so in rural areas. There is the
Upper Peninsula Recycling Coalition, which annually holds conferences to offer a forum for individuals, businesses, municipalities and governmental agencies interested and concerned about recycling. And there is private business that specializes in recycling electronic and household goods.
"Like the rest of the state, the U.P. has taken some steps in the right direction, but there is still work to be done," says Matt Flechter, recycling coordinator with the
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. "We can do more to ensure that every resident has convenient recycling opportunities.
"It's one thing to have recycling, but it has to be convenient enough for residents to use, or chances are they're not going to use it."
Flechter says Michigan as a whole has approximately a 14 percent recycling rate, which is the lowest among all Great Lakes states. He did not have statistics reflecting performance strictly for the U.P., but he says that is part of future planning.
"We are going to implement a system that will enable us to better provide data collection to let us know how we're doing as far as recycling goes, the U.P. included," Flechter says. "That way, we'll better know where we need to improve, and how we can improve. But there is little doubt that we need to let residents know why recycling is important, and the opportunities available for them to recycle."
As far as educating U.P. businesses and residents on recycling opportunities, and the importance of recycling, the
Upper Peninsula Recycling Coalition is in its 25th year of doing just that. The UPRC's ultimate goal is to promote the reduction of materials going to landfills through reducing, reusing and recycling.
Since its inception in 1988, the UPRC has sponsored an Annual Recycling Conference (this year's is taking place September 25 at Bay West College in Iron Mountain) which brings in speakers to help foster education and cooperation among the area's recycling programs.
"Recycling in the U.P. is sporadic," says Pete Rossoto, executive director of the UPRC. "The lack of population and the large area of land make it difficult. There are recycling centers in Delta, Marquette, Dickinson, Iron Mountain, Escanaba and other places, but in the more rural areas, it gets difficult.
"I don't think it's that people don't want to recycle their household items, it's just that it's so inconvenient."
Rossoto explains residents may not want to throw an old computer in the garbage can that eventually will end up in a landfill instead of being recycled or reused, but that driving long distances to a recycling center is a difficult task.
Steve Hawn, CEO of
SGT'S Recycling in Escanaba, says if a resident of Newberry wants to recycle household items, he or she would have to drive 130 miles round trip to do it. That's just not feasible for most people, but Hawn has a vision that one day may solve this problem.
"We've written letters to 30 community leaders, and have asked about creating transfer stations in their community--perhaps staffed by city or township workers, SGT'S employees or even volunteers--where residents could drop off recyclables and we could pick them up on a regular basis," Hawn says. "This way, we could collect as much as humanly possible to keep it out of landfills and resell it, reuse it and get it back into the economy.
"Right now, just about everything we collect at our facility in Escanaba stays local, and when items go back into our economy, jobs stay here. Imagine if we could do that throughout the Upper Peninsula. I think it's a vision worth pursuing."
Right now, SGT'S, whose workforce consists of 83 percent veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, collects appliances, furniture, e-waste and other recyclable and reusable items in two ways: Residents drive to the location at 1600 N. 30th Street at a rate of 60-100 a day to drop off items; or SGT'S staff conducts pickups in Manistique, Iron Mountain, Marquette, Marinette and other communities. These pick-ups collect items from electronic stores, furniture stores, St. Vincent DePaul locations, Habitats for Humanity, Goodwill outlets and more.
SGT'S then is able to break the goods down to scrap metals, aluminum, tin, copper, gold, silver, plastics, wood and virtually any other material they come across that is reusable.
Hawn says SGT'S processed about 500 tons of recyclable items last year.
"We're like a pack of hungry wolves," Hawn says. "About 99 percent of what we bring in stays out of the landfill. We're just hoping to grow and grow, and it can do nothing but help the environment and the economy in the U.P."
Jeff Barr is a freelance writer who has lived in Michigan for 46 years. You can reach Jeff at barrj88@aol.com.