Kent County Department of Public Works applauds Grand Rapids Label for landfill diversion
Company removed from Waste-to-Energy exemption list
The Kent County Department of Public Works (DPW) recently informed Grand Rapids Label that they will be allowed to send their waste to the Waste to Energy (WTE) facility instead of area landfills.
The City of Grand Rapids’ Solid Waste Ordinance requires all combustible waste be delivered to the WTE. Companies are granted exemptions if their waste is determined to be troublesome and not suitable for combustion. There are currently about 225 businesses with exemptions in the six cities with ordinances that require waste haulers to deliver combustible waste to the WTE.
“We appreciate and applaud Grand Rapids Label’s efforts to change its waste profile through recycling and reducing the type of waste that initially required an exemption from delivering to Waste to Energy,” said Dar Baas, director of the Kent County Department of Public Works. “We’re grateful that we can be part of providing a solution for Grand Rapids Label to reach their waste reduction goals and divert waste from landfills.”
Grand Rapids Label provides labeling and die cutting solutions for the automotive, industrial, medical, electronics and packaging markets. They have had a longstanding exemption from sending their waste to WTE, but the company has made significant steps to meet their company sustainability and zero waste to landfill goals.
“Grand Rapids Label set a goal to be landfill free by 2024,” said John Crosby, vice president of Grand Rapids Label. “In partnership with our other waste reduction and green labeling strategies, being able to deliver waste to the Waste to Energy facility is a critical step toward reaching our goal.”
Kent County’s Waste to Energy facility is a key part of an integrated waste management system that allows our community to responsibly dispose of solid waste while producing local energy and reducing the amount of waste going into landfills. The WTE upholds the highest environmental standards, achieving Michigan’s Clean Corporate Citizen designation each year since 2006.
