Muskegon County seeks grant for countywide recycling center

MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – Muskegon County officials hope to fill a recycling gap by establishing new recycling centers countywide.

The Muskegon County Commission in January approved a measure directing officials to apply for up to $500,000 in recycling infrastructure grants from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

Funding is being sought to establish a countywide centralized recycling center at the Muskegon County Solid Waste Landfill, located at 9366 Apple Ave. in Ravenna.

Currently, some municipalities in the county offer recycling services, but rural residents have difficulty accessing them.

“One of the big things we’re missing is a drop-off area where people can drop things off,” said Sarah Cooper, the county’s sustainability and community relations coordinator.

If the bid is successful, the county will purchase two compactors, one for plastic and one for cardboard, which will be installed next to the landfill for use by all county residents.

The project is scheduled to be implemented in 2027.

The compactor will be utilized at or near the landfill’s transfer station, said Greg Leverens, the landfill’s solid waste supervisor.

“There is certainly a lack of access to recycling in certain areas of our community,” said Wade Vandenbosch, county public works director. “Curbside is available in a significant portion of densely populated areas, but rural areas lack access to recycling.”

For example, cities like Muskegon and Norton Shores offer curbside recycling to their residents.

“We want to be able to provide recycling access to all county residents,” Vandenbosch said. “Landfill space is a commodity, and if we can find a way to better replace material that ends up in a landfill, that’s a win not only for the community, but for our facility as well.”

The county also sought grants to add recycling compactors for residents of Muskegon and Fruitland townships.

The permit application includes an option for a fourth site, whose location has not been specified. Officials are in talks with the White Lake Regional Solid Waste Management Authority, 2100 Holton-Whitehall Road in Whitehall.

The city of Muskegon is considering adding a 24/7 recycling drop-off area with compactors for plastics and cardboard at the public works facility at 1350 East Keating Avenue.

The city already offers curbside recycling, funded by residents’ taxes, as well as trash pickup services.

The 24/7 drop-off space will provide residents and community members who do not have access to in-store services an additional opportunity to recycle in larger quantities at least once a month.

Cooper said the county chose to work with Muskegon because of Keating’s established location, which serves as a county-wide household hazardous waste dump and also serves as the venue for bi-annual county events. The city also has sustainability goals and an adopted climate action plan.

City officials said the ongoing costs to the city to maintain the 24/7 recycling center are “minor” and no additional staffing is required.

Fruitland Township Ecology Station, 5281 W. Missilinda Road, will replace the recycling system that currently collects and separates materials into bins with two compactors.

“Fruitland Township has approached us numerous times about expanding services to the Ecology Center,” Cooper said, adding that a more rural recycling location would be a benefit to out-of-town residents.

If a grant is awarded, each community must pay 20% of the amount awarded. Cooper said the cost per municipality, including counties, should not exceed $25,000.

Officials said the new county recycling center will not require additional staffing and will fit into the same hours as the landfill: 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

Currently, the landfill has nine full-time employees and one contract employee.

Leverens said the Muskegon County Landfill existed as an unauthorized public dump in the 1970s before being constructed as a landfill in 1980. He did not know when the county took ownership of the property.

The landfill is 13 acres in size and has been expanded several times over the years, most recently in 2022. An additional 13 acres are planned for this year.

Waste haulers are contracted to dump it in landfills. County residents can dispose of their waste at landfills or at transfer stations where certain materials, such as steel, can be separated.

In 2025, 198,490 tons will be deposited in landfills, including 12,218 visits to transfer stations and 33,475 visits to landfills.

County leaders did not know exactly how many tons could be diverted from the landfill if a recycling station was added on site.

Separately, the county has partnered with Resource Recovery Corporation, an organization that filters and treats foundry sand.

Foundry sand is used in factories that manufacture metal parts. RRC works with businesses in Ottawa and Muskegon County to collect the sand, which is then recycled for new uses.

In landfills, sand serves as a daily cover, Vandenbosch said. This is a layer of material that is placed on top of the trash pile and spread on the ground every day to prevent the trash from flying in and to deter “pests”.

Wood chips, sewage sludge, gravel and sand mixtures, commercial sprays, and tarpaulins are also used for routine covering.

Muskegon County Commissioner Jessica Cook said the recycling efforts are in line with the county’s broader goal of being more sustainable and diverting materials from landfills whenever possible.

He said recycling and sand sorting also helps divert unwanted material from entering the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center, where wastewater is treated.

Mr Cook said: “There’s only so much space available in landfills. We need to use that space wisely and we need to (and should) make sure that a lot of cardboard and plastic doesn’t end up in landfills.” “Anything that helps with repurposing extends the life of the resource recovery center and helps the environment.

“We have the right leaders in place across the county who are interested in working together to help our environment, implementing increasingly large-scale projects and allowing Muskegon County to begin leading some large-scale environmental projects.”