News

Kent County Department of Public Works has announced the temporary closure of its Wealthy Street recycling drop-off station and electronics drop-off site. The closure began 5 p.m. Friday, March 26 and last through the fall of 2021.

The closure of the recycling drop-off station and electronics recycling drop-off located on the campus of the Recycling & Education Center (977 Wealthy St. SW Grand Rapids), is due to the construction of a new Kent County DPW administrative building and SafeChem Center on the Recycling & Education Center campus.

It will NOT impact the processing of residential recycling delivered to the Recycling & Education Center by commercial recycling haulers or recycling dropped off at the Rockford Recycling Station at the North Kent Recycling & Waste Center.

We continue to work to improve access to recycling for residents who do may not have access to curbside recycling services.

We have created a list of ways you can still participate in recycling while this location is closed.

Visit our website at www.reimageintrash.org/wealthystdropoff for alternative recycling options.

Please note the changes to some of Kent County Department of Public Works services due to COVID-19 precautions:

• Kent County is offering virtual field trips, live digital programming, and other resources to assist teachers, educators, and parents navigating this Covid-19 impacted school year.
• We have resumed all of our services at all of our sites/facilities for regular hours, with the exception of: 
  • Drop-in Monday Open Hours and self-guided tours at the Recycling Center remain suspended until further notice.
  • Kent County SafeSharps program has resumed new container pick-up and used container collection at only the Fuller Clinic by notice/appointment. Please contact the Kent County Health Department for more information or to arrange an appointment.
• DPW Administrative offices have most staff working remotely, responding to phone calls and electronic messages as soon as possible.
  • Please review our Frequently Asked Questions and other resources for your answer:
    • Recycling & Waste Directory
    • Our Facilities & Services Offered
    • Holiday Hours
  • You can contact us by phone at 616-632-7920 (click here for the staff directory) or email for assistance as well.

Any sludge (municipal water or wastewater sludge, paper processing sludge, industrial sludge, food processing sludge or by -products, etc.), which is non-hazardous, as outlined in PA 451, and also meets the “Policy on the Use of the Kent County Solid Waste Disposal System.”

Please call for rates – prior approval required. The Director shall calculate the actual cost using a percent of solids in the sludge and/or environmental surcharge based on the chemical or physical characteristics of the sludge.

After closing hours we refuse the admittance of any additional customers. Customers that remain on the premises and are not done dumping by our closing time, a surcharge will be added to the tipping fee. This will cover all extra manpower and equipment costs that are incurred by the Department of Public Works. This is our policy and we can make NO EXCEPTIONS.

The surcharge fees are currently as follows:

Up to 15 minutes = $45
16-30 minutes = $90
31-45 minutes = $135
46-60 minutes = $180
For each additional unit time increment add $45.

Tires that are accepted for recycling:

• Car/Pickup Truck
• Semi truck and trailer
• Motorcycle
• Wheelbarrow
• ATV
• Riding lawn mower
• Agricultural tires with rim size 14” or less
• Bicycle (10 bike tires equals the cost of a single passenger car tire)

The tires that are accepted for recycling must be clean. Tires can either be on or off the rim — we have no preference.

Tires that are NOT accepted for recycling:

• Agricultural tires with rim diameter greater than 14”
• Airplane tires
• Skid Steer, loader or earth moving equipment tires

Tires that are not accepted for recycling may be cut into a minimum of two pieces (half) for disposal in the landfill and will be charged according to the fee schedule based on minimum charge or according to the weight and cut tire tonnage pricing.

Dead animals from agricultural operations, road kill, or other sources requiring special management.

Restrictions apply to North Kent Transfer Station for this material; please call for prior approval.

Any matter contaminated by petroleum, mineral waste from casting or plating operations, which are non-hazardous, as outlined in PA 451, and also meet all rules set forth in the “Policy on the Use of the Kent County Solid Waste Disposal System”.

Please call for rates – prior approval required.

Bulky items that are accepted for landfill disposal:

• Mobile homes
• Campers
• Trailers
• Boats
• Hot Tubs
• Any bulky item that requires special handling including equipment and labor to manage.

All appliances in mobile homes or trailers are to be removed prior to disposal.

Any plastic, Styrofoam, light paper, or fine particle material that is not securely bundled to prevent operational hazard.

Kent County’s Recycling & Education Center utilizes state-of-the-art technology as well as manual sorting to separate plastics, metals, glass and paper into commodities that are valuable in the domestic and global marketplace. Visit the Recycling & Education Center to see for yourself!