Kent County Recycling & Education Center in Grand Rapids receives recyclables from waste hauling companies that collect it at homes in West Michigan. In 2018 we received nearly 34,000 tons of recyclables and put 90% of those into recycling markets where they were made into new bottles, benches, jars, boxes, agriculture products, and many more things. 10% of it was considered contamination – materials that was either too dirty or not the right material to recycle.
In recent months there have been stories of communities across the United States, and even in Michigan, losing their outlets for recyclable materials or not being willing to pay more to keep recycling and they’re now landfilling the recyclables. THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR KENT COUNTY! We continue to sort bottles, cans, jars, boxes and papers that you put in your recycling carts and send them to companies in the midwest and Canada who further process them into feedstock for new products!
