2025 Michigan Recycling Coalition Annual Conference
Conference Program
Presentations:
Meeting Masterfully: Planning for & Running Effective Meetings
Tuesday, May • 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Dr. Vernon Miller, Michigan State University
Let's break the habit of low-energy, unproductive meetings, and tense team discussions. This training will equip you with the tools and outlook you need to lead great meetings. Shift from routine agendas to intentional preparation to get the results you need. Shift from "having a meeting" to facilitating engaging discussions that lead to action. Learn how to navigate team power dynamics, build trust, and turn dbates into connection and collaborative decision-making. Join us to transform the way you communicate, collaborate, and lead.
From Trash Talk to Viral Triumph: Mastering Social Media for Recycling
Tuesday, May 13 • 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Jessica Shrout, Circle Three Branding
Ready to turn your recycling messaging from "meh" to magnetic? Social media isn't just for cat videos - it's a game-changer for educating, inspiring, and mobilizing communities to recycle smarter. Learn more about how social media is evolving and how you can develop a plan for generating a powerful social media strategy for your brand (or even yourself). In this hands-on workshop, you'll craft real-world social media strategy for a loved recycling organization - think MRC and Recycle, Michigan. Through this example, you will learn how to leverage your brand identity, capture attention, spark engagement, and measure impact. With interactive exercises, smart templates, and a bit of digital magic, you will walk away with a strategy that's both practical and powerful to implement in your community. Whether you're a social media newbie or a seasoned pro looking to up your game, this workshop will help you clean up your content, not just yuor recyclables!
Michigan's Recycling Evolution: Progress, Challenges, and the Road Ahead
Wednesday, May 14 • 9:10 AM - 10:00 AM
Jim Frey, RRS
For Decades, Michigan has been at the forefront of recycling and materials management, evoolving from early planning efforts to today's ambitious circular economy initiatives. Jim will reflect on recycling's transofrmation and how policies, funding mechanisms, and public-private partnrships have shaped Michigan's recycling landscape. Drawing on his deep industry experience and national best practices, Jim will highlight key milestones - including Michigan's first curbside recycling program, NextCycle Michigan, and the launch of Materials Management Planning, to bring focus to the next frontier of our materials management policies and programs. Gain insight into the opportunities ahead: Strengthening infrastructure, securing sustainable funding, and embracing collaboration to accelerate Michigan's circular future.
Advancing Recycling in Detroit through Delegation & Capacity Building
Wednesday, May 14 • 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
Justine Abbo & Kamryn Gardner, Green Living Science
Participation in the City of Detroit's recycling program has increased from 4% to 40%. As the primary education contractor for the city, Green Living Science (GLS) bridges the gap between municipal programs and community engagement by delivering tailered educational strategies to residents, schools, and businesses. This session will share the recent history of solid waste and recycling management in the city, including the grassroots origins of Recycle Here! and the city's transition to an opt-in curbside residential program. Learn how GLS uses other innovative approaches, such as recycling ambassadors, youth engagement, K-12 school programming, and integrated workspace and multi-family recycling to grow recycling program participation.
[Unfortunately, there is no recoording of this presentation]Cracking the Code on MRF Glass
Wednesday, May 14 • 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
Lindsey Walker, Emmet County Recycling
As a bottle bill state, Michigan already supplies valuable container glass for bottle-to-bottle markets. But the challenges of recycling the remaining MRF glass can seem insurmountable. The broken glass and contamination in the recycling stream and the costs to transport glass to market make it a break even proposition at best. Explore how glass is differentiated by type and quality for recycling, as well as what the best reuse opportunities are for this material. Understand the current infrastructure and markets in the Great Lakes region, get your questions answered, and be a part of identifying a set of solutions to get this material recyced while minimizing impact on your bottom line.
Residential Food Waste & Municipal Drop-off Programs
Wednesday, May 14 • 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
Jennifer McCullen, My Green Michigan
Food waste is estimated to make up almost 24% of Michigan's municipal solid waste, with a significant portion coming from the residential sector. One way to capture and recycle this valuable resource is through community drop-off programs, which offer a proven path to introduce food waste recycling to residents. Learn about developing and existing programs, and explore the challenges and opportunities of these efforts. Understand how these types of programs can serve as pilots and be used to foster potential investsmenets into expanded curbside collection.
What to Expect from Permitting and Inspections
Wednesday, May 14 • 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM
With updates to Part 115, recycling and composting facilities will be required to notify, register, and/or apply for operating permits. Get an overview of these new authorizations and the underlying regulations for covered materials management facilites. Learn about the purpose of these changes, the permitting requirements, the inspection process, and the potential consequences or corrective actions necessary if facilities fail to meet compliance standards.
Bridging the Gaps: Industrial vs. Curbside Recycling
Wednesday, May 14 • 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM
Nadine Dirske, PADNOS
While recycling is often seen as a singular system, industrial and curbside residential recycling systems operate with unique processes, challenges, and opportunities. This session will bring together key voices in the larger recycling ecosystem to examine these differences, identify common goals, and explore pathways to strengten recycling outcomes nationwide. Understand the nuances of service provision among the systems that service commercial, industrial, and residential systems and how these systems can be leveraged to level up recycling in your community.
Community-Wide Reuse: Helping Those Most in Need While Making Less Trash
Wednesday, May 14 • 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM
Jenny Petoskey, City of Ann Arbor
Tired of seeing items in perfectly good condition piling up at the curb on trash day? Whether your community hosts a campus or has a high rental population, every community can support household downsizing and waste reduction. Hear about the City of Ann Arbor's ongoing work to create collaborative reuse opportunities that build on programs that already exist in communities. Learn how you can create synergies, connections, and partnerships to move materials and resources to those who need them. Understand how to craft a compelling story that gets stakeholders and citizens excited to participate in the circular economy.
Drop-Off & Multifamily Recycling Education & Opportunities
Wednesday, May 14 • 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM
Samantha Longshore, Cassandra Ford, & Jill Martin, The Recycling Partnership
After over 5 years and more than 400 projects in Michigan, The Recycling Partnership has researched, tested, and implemented dozens of strategies to improve recycling in drop-off programs, while also expanding efforts to include underserved populations in multifamily programs. Learn from existing programs about site access and improvements such as in-dumpster cameras, direct site feedback, mail-only behavior change campaigns, and measuring progress. Assess the effectiveness of your drop-off and/or multifamily recycling program, and explore strategies for program improvements with the resources and tools needed to meet diversion and/or material management goals.
How to Scale a Successful Organics Recovery Program
Wednesday, May 14 • 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM
Jamie Zawila, GT Environmental
Launching a successful organics recovery program requires more than infrastructure - it demands vision, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and community buy-in. Understand the essential steps to developing or expanding organics programs and initiatives, from assessing existing material streams and funding to anticipating and planning for operational challenges. Whether you're building a composting facility, enhancing a collection system, or starting from scratch - seeing a path, identifying practical steps, and knowing the tools available to support you will provide important guidance to begin the work.
MRC Update
Wednesday, May 14 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Kerrin O'Brien, Michigan Recycling Coalition
Advocating for Resource Recovery Projects at the Hyper-Local Level and Up
Wednesday, May 14 • 4:10 PM - 5:00 PM
Matthew Segal, StrategyCorp Inc.
Success in advocacy hinges on navigating the complex political landscape. Today, projects face intense public scrutiny from diverse stakeholders across multiple media platforms. Explore effective public engagement plans that align with your goals and leverage digtital tools. Explore successful and unsuccessful approaches, empowering you to influence decision-makers in a rapidly evolving environment.
Clarifying Compostable Labeling to Increase Diversion and Decrease Contamination
Wednesday, May 14 • 4:10 PM - 5:00 PM
Alexander Truelove, BPI
States are starting to develop criteria for all products and packaging claiming to be compostable and even reusable and recyclable, in order to provide customers with consistency and confidence about managing end-of-life products and packaging correctly. The Biodegradable Products Institute, an independent third-party certification entity, is working to support the development of clear labeling standards for compostable products that are certified based on a suite of testing criteria. Understand the roles of BPI, state law, and education when it comes to truth in labeling, and explore the lessons learned with a focus on increasing participation and diversion, while decreasing contamination and pollution.
Mixed Dual Stream Rural Recycling Drop-Offs
Wednesday, May 14 • 4:10 PM 0 5:00 PM
Matt Biolette, Fleis & Venderbrink Engineering
Brenda Taeter, Montcalm County
Providing cost-effective and convenient recycling services to rural communities doesn't have to be hard. Learn about the award-winning Montcalm County drop-off approach which Ionia County has recently adopted for two sites in 2025. See how this low-maintenance, high-impact mixed dual-stream drop-off recycling system is working, what's required, and how it compares to a traditional drop-off program. Hear from two county administrators about how their drop-off sites are funded and learn about other important components that make these programs successful.
Where Does Microplastics Monitoring "Fit" in Circular Economy Development?
Wednesday, May 14 • 4:10 PM - 5:00 PM
Matthew Naud, RRS
Yongli Wager, Wayne State University
Microplastics in the environment and in packaged food and beverages are a growing concern, sparking discussions around regulation and monitoring. What can the quantities and types of microplastics in water, soil, and air tell us about our current material hauling operations and infrastructure design practices? What potential data, materials processing, and mitigation systems could support our goals for circular economies? Understand the challenges of microplastics and hear about an opportunity to confidentially monitor microplastics to inform research and get ahead of the problem.
Navigating Toward the Big Opportunities of Planning
Thursday, May 15 • 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Robert Davis, DBS Attorneys at Law
County Materials Management Planning is the updated framework and a key to establishing how Michiganders will manage residential waste, organics, and recyclables. The learning curve may be steep, and navigaing the requirements may be challenging, but once properly in place, this planning process will serve as a valuable tool for each country and the state as a whole. Attorney Robert Charles Davis has historically been involved in planning issues and is currently assembling multi-county agreements to comply with the planning requirements, while also supporting single-county efforts going forward. Learn about the more challenging aspects of the process and expected benefits. Davis will explore the "lighthouse" opportunities and challenges of facility siting, funding, local zoning and ordinances, and other mechanisms such as authorities and flow control to provide the context needed for exploration and inclusion in a county plan. Understand the mechanisms of control and authority afforded in Part 115 as well as the role of the state, the county, and the municipality in enforcing these provisions.
Construction Debris Management & Your MMP
Thursday, May 15 • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Vimala Anishetty, Fishbeck
Kristen Wieland, RRS
The EPA estimates that in 2018, 600 million tons of construction and demolition debris were generated in the US, more than twwice the amount of municipal solid wasste! Finding productive ways to manage and reuse this material stream is important to many large organizations and manufacturers with zero-waste-to-landfill goals. Learn about inspections at several construction sites and observed waste management practices that are leading to insights on policies and practices that drive the highest recycling rates possible. Learn how Materials Management Planning enables counties to integrate C&D debris management into long-term strategies, aligning with Michigan solid waste law. Gain an understanding of market opportunities, policy drivers, and best practices that communities across the country are using to make an impact.
Curbside Recycling Education & Opportunities
Thursday, May 15 • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Samantha Longshore, Cassandra Ford, & Jill Martin, The Recycling Partnership
The Recycling Partnership has researcched, tested, and implemente dozens of strategies to improve recycling in community curbside programs. Learn more about results and pros and cons of curbside recycling projects focused on infrastructure, quality improvement, and participation. Assess the effectiveness of your recycling program, identify the best strategy for improving curbside recycling systems based on previously researched and tested strategies, and see where you can get the resources and tools needed to implement a strategy to effectively meet diversion and/or material management goals.
Demystify Your Data and Set Goals for Materials Management
Thursday, May 15 • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Aubree Carlisle, Daniel Droste, Amy Karana, Tracy Tomaszewski, Christina Miller, and Madi Opperthauser, EGLE
Program managers understand the value of good data to inform their investment in strategic programming. Materials Management Planning will make access to good data even more important. EGLE staff will share available resources and opportunities for shareholders to begin or enhance data collection efforts that both inform setting a baseline goal and tracking progress toward identified mateirals management goals. Review the EGLE-provided framework for setting materials management goals and explore key topics to consider in materials management plans.
NextCycle Michigan Mini-Showcase
Thursday, May 15 • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Brian Iezzi, Fibracode
Chad Techcmer, Metro Food Rescue
Jamie Carruthers Soboleski, Iosco County
Jared Seifert, Design Declassified
Elisa Seltzer, RRS
Curious about NextCycle Michigan and wondering what it could do for your program? Haven't attended a NextCycle Showcase but interested in learning more abut the types of projects that are being accelerated? Learn more about NextCycle through this min-showcase session. Five NextCycle Teams will "pitch" their initiatives to the audience and the audience will choose their winner. Learn about some of the innovative teams and projects that have benefited from NextCycle and get your questions about NextCycle answered.
Awards of Recycling Excellence
Thursday, May 15 • 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Nick Carlson, Goodwill Industries of West Michigan
Kerrin O'Brien, Michigan Recycling Coalition
Exploring the Future of Michigan's Bottle Bill
Thursday, May 15 • 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Anna Lee, Public Sector Consultants
Conan Smith, Michigan Environmental Council
Erik Petrovkis, Meijer
Shoshannah Lenski, University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems
Tamanna Sengupta, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability
Kerrin O'Brien, Michigan Recycling Coalition
Michigan's Deposit Law is the subject of perennial interest by all involved, and this year, it's getting extra attention. Historically, Michigan led the nation in bottle redemption, but today, this system faces modern challenges such as declining returns and operational inefficiencies at a time of increasing demand for recycled mateirals. Through this plenary panel, learn about two different research studies being led by the University of Michigan and Public Sector Consultants on Michigan's Deposit Law. Hear preliminary feedback researchers are gathering from stakeholders through interviews and workshops on the bottle recycling ecosystem. Understand the key challenges, policy considerations, and the latest ideas for getting more containers into the circular ecocnomy.