Mid Michigan Waste Authority

There are 34 municipalities that the Mid Michigan Waste Authority (MMWA) helps to coordinate trash, recycling, and yard waste services for. This can be a challenge when each municipality has completely different population sizes and needs for resources. However, the MMWA does everything they can to customize all options to achieve the needs for all residents.

When it comes to recycling programs, MMWA does not fall short in options here. The collection events are a huge success now that they have their own building. Before they were only able to put on 4 collections a year. Now they are doing around 22. Another recycling program that they developed to try and help better increase successful communication for recycling is the “Rethink Your Recycling” program. This is a monthly campaign where each month they focus on a different, hard to recycle item to share more information about. This is a great way to work closer with the haulers and see what a common item being recycled incorrectly in the area is. With so many recycling guidelines out there, it is extremely important to focus on this clarity, to help eliminate contaminants. MMWA also makes sure that each area is receiving the information from this program in a way that is useful for them. So, if one area is more rural than another, the MMWA will try to take that into consideration.

Another program that has seen great success in the last few years is the holiday light collection. Running from November 15th-January 15th there are 10-12 sites where you can drop off your Christmas lights for recycling. This is a great opportunity for people to get involved and give back. After collection this year, over a ton of lights were taken to a local scrap and iron yard to be recycled, and the money was then given to a local children’s organization.

Finally, what would recycling be without a big Earth Day celebration. This year the MMWA is going to be at the local children’s zoo, where the first 400 people who come get in free with a recyclable plastic. Once they get in, there will be recycling education, crafts, scavenger hunts, and much more. MMWA knows that focusing on the everyday changes that we can make, really is a great place to start because of how it adds up. That is why at this event the first 400 people will also be receiving a reusable sandwich bag to help them have zero waste lunches.

Meeting people halfway like this is something that MMWA hopes to stay focused on in the future. This April they will be launching a curbside sticker program pilot in eight of its member communities, that focuses on three common recycling container contaminants: foam, plastic bags, and greasy pizza boxes. This will help increase communication at the curb, and hopefully allow people to make the necessary corrections they otherwise would have missed. Meeting people in the middle is something that the MMWA is definitely willing to do. They always are looking for ways to be creative and improve how they can listen to people from the source.