Yesterday the Governor announced a proposal to double the state’s recycling rate over the next two years.  The proposal is intended to increase the state’s current 15 percent recycling rate to 30 percent by 2017.

The initiative focuses on several important pieces including benchmarking progress, education and technical assistance for communities, ensuring convenient access to recycling and developing market opportunities for recycled products.

The League was part stakeholder groups working through this issue in the last year. We are supportive of incentives to help local communities increase recycling access, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Environmental Quality to help our communities reach these goals.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org