Recycling Still Matters.

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The Materials Management Division (MMD) of EGLE is aware that sites may be experiencing an impact due to reduced workforce, which may make it difficult to maintain normal operations. We are encouraging waste and materials management businesses to proactively plan for the possibility that normal waste and materials management practices may be interrupted.

All regulated businesses are encouraged to take actions necessary to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and requirements to protect public health, safety, and the environment. Sites that collect, store, handle, process, recycle, or dispose of solid waste, E-waste, organic materials, or scrap tires need to plan and be prepared for management of these materials during the State of Emergency, to minimize the risks associated with extended storage times, excess volumes, and proper containment of the materials, to prevent contamination risks to employees and the public.

However, in the instance that noncompliance is unavoidable directly due to impact from the COVID-19, please contact the staff listed below to talk with MMD staff about requests for potential regulatory relief. You will be asked to provide an email with specific information related to request(s) including:

  • Facility name, address, and contact information.
  • A concise statement supporting any request for regulatory relief.
  • A description of the regulatory relief that is being requested (i.e., collection/storage practices, treatment modifications, increased storage time, etc.).
  • The business must maintain records adequate to document activities related to the regulatory relief, including details of the business's best efforts to comply with the existing requirements.

Additional information, such as photo documentation, may also be requested.

Decisions on specific alternatives will be made as the response evolves, to maintain effective and efficient use of infrastructure to move material and protect public health.

Personal protective equipment and practices to prevent COVID-19 transmission should continue to be employed. Workers should:

  • Use personal protective equipment.
  • Maintain social distancing.
  • Regularly wash hands and disinfect surfaces and equipment.

If you have any questions or need to request regulatory relief, please contact:

Solid Waste: Ms. Rhonda Oyer, Manager, Solid Waste Section (SWS), MMD, at 517-897-1395 or oyerr@michigan.gov; Ms. Margie Ring, Statewide Solid Waste Engineering Specialist, SWS, MMD, EGLE, at 517-290-6125 or ringm@michigan.gov; or Mr. Jim Arduin, Statewide Solid Waste Geological Specialist, SWS, MMD, EGLE, at 517-614-7434 or arduinj@michigan.gov.

Recycling: Mr. Matthew Flechter, Recycling Market Development Specialist, Sustainability Section, MMD, EGLE, at 517-614-7353 or flechterm@michigan.gov; or Mr. Robert Jackson, Assistant Division Director, MMD, EGLE, at 517-930-6163 or jacksonr20@michigan.gov

Organic Materials Composting: Mr. Aaron Hiday, Compost Program Coordinator, Sustainable Materials Management Unit (SMMU), SWS, MMD, EGLE, at 517-282-7546 or hidaya@michigan.gov; or Mr. Duane Roskoskey, Waste Characterization Specialist, SWS, MMD, EGLE, at 517-582-3445 or roskoskeyd@michigan.gov

Electronic Waste: Mr. Steve Noble, Electronics Program Coordinator, SWS, MMD, EGLE, at 517-449-6153 or nobles4@michigan.gov; or Mr. Jeff Spencer, Supervisor, SMMU, SWS, MMD, EGLE, at 517-281-4411 or spencerj3@michigan.gov

For additional information regarding COVID-19 and the Emergency Order, please see:

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MRC Response:

For many states on the leading edge of COVID-19 response, recycling and organics management service providers have asked the question and gotten affirmation that these services are indeed essential. Affirmations are generally based on the "Public Works" section of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's CISA Guidance on Essential Critical Workforce. It is clear that removing materials from the curb is important to public health and safety. And, that recyclables are important feedstock for manufacturers, especially those producing toilet paper and packaging for the medical supplies and cleaning products that are in such high demand at the moment.

Assuring the safety of workers is of utmost importance at this time. OSHA provides longstanding guidelines for the protection of Solid Waste and Wastewater Management Workers and Employers which should apply across the board. It is important that these protections be in place. What's less clear are the implications of managing a potentially impacted and diminished work force on the provision of curbside and drop-off services. The demands of home life are taking precedence for many of us. Employees are managing kids at home and as COVID-19 sweeps through the country, we are or will be caring for ourselves and loved ones - as it should be. Now, we must explore contingency plans.

Of course, we encourage you to share as much information about your program and temporary changes to services as possible with your customers and residents. However, in those communications, please take the time to reaffirm for your audience the value of recycling organic and inorganic materials as critical components of lessening our collective demand for natural resources. Putting the materials already circulating in our economy back into productive use, for the benefit of the economy and environment is essential to reducing the impact of waste, and yes, mitigating climate change.

Most importantly, if services are temporarily disrupted, ask your clients and residents to hold on to their recovered materials until services resume. This includes bottles and cans covered under the Bottle Bill. These materials and your programs are part of a larger supply chain that provide feedstock for a significant number of businesses and organizations, large and small, across the state, and their livelihoods depend on it. 

For those of you who are leading businesses and organizations that depend upon and manage recovered materials, the Small Business Association has some good resources as you go about creating contingency plans of your own. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is making loans of $50,000 or more, capped at $200,000, for organizations with fewer than 100 employees that can demonstrate income loss and are unable to access credit through alternative sources. The State of Michigan is making grants of up to $10,000 available for organizations with 50 or fewer employees with demonstrated income loss as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The City of Detroit is providing $5,000 grants for small businesses in the city with fewer than 10 employees who can demonstrate hardship due to COVID-19.

These are certainly extraordinary times. As we go about adjusting to life under "stay at home" orders, we are finding that policies and practices haven't necessarily kept up with the times. However, we are more interconnected and dependent upon public services than ever. We are doing the best we can and can help others do their best, too.

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PO Box 10070
Lansing, MI 48901
kobrien@michiganrecycles.org
517.974.3672
www.michiganrecycles.org

May 5, 2020

Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Lansing, MI 48909

Honorable Governor Whitmer,

With the 2018 passage of Renew Funding, the legislature took a historic step to fund and institutionalize environmental protection. There is no better time to do this important work. Deploying these resources now will set Michigan up to move quickly toward a sustainable future. Protecting workers, the economy, the environment, and reducing climate impacts through recycling and sustainable materials management contribute to a climate resilient Michigan. Moving forward with Renew Funding to keep waste materials flowing from communities and businesses to end markets has yielded numerous environmental and economic benefits for us.

As the State prepares for inevitable budget cuts, it's important to remember that the need for recycling and sustainable materials management is real, and that the Legislature is on the cusp of updating Michigan's solid waste laws to reflect these priorities. The impact of our waste problem is staggering when we dare to look at it. We will forever be cleaning up pollution if we never commit to getting ahead of it. And there's little more that's productive for both Michigan's economy and environment at this time than preventing environmental contamination by putting waste back into productive use in the products we buy every day.

If the response to the COVID-19 threat has taught us anything, it's that maintaining the products and services on which our lives depend is the most important thing we can do. It is, in fact, essential. Managing waste properly is certainly in this category as well. Never in our history have we produced so much waste or needed these services to the degree we depend on them now. However, our continued reliance on disposal only adds to the environmental and economic burden of our daily habits; assuring that we will have to continue to extract natural resources and fund environmental cleanup.

Trash, recycling, and yard waste get picked up at curbsides in our state every day. With the support of Renew, the industry is poised to triple the recycling rate - adding 138,000 new jobs to Michigan's Recycling, Reuse, and Recovery Industry, providing $9 billion in annual labor income, providing $33.8 billion in economic output, and eliminating emissions of an additional 7 million metric ton equivalent of carbon dioxide. At a 45% recycling rate, the RRR industry would account for 3.3% of the state's total economic output. And, even right now, with all the market challenges, Michigan's recycling programs are a valuable part of a resilient local and regional supply chain for products in high demand, like toilet paper, cardboard boxes, and a wide variety of plastic packaging.

If we are to effectively address the truly existential threats of our time, we are going to have to take full responsibility for the life cycle of the products, services, and packaging we consume. The balance between environmental protection and cleanup will have to change. Helping communities and businesses be good stewards of the resources we consume daily is the goal of Renew. Moving forward with full funding for this program helps local economies rebuild with sustainability in mind and in practice. Personally, I will grow only more concerned about Michigan's future if we continue to rely on outdated systems and refuse to make necessary changes, especially in these uncertain times.

 

 

 

Kerrin O'Brien
Executive Director