March 6, 2007

On January 1, 2007, the Secretary of State began retiring and replacing Michigan's standard blue license plates. With approximately 5.6 million blue license plates currently in circulation, the Department of Environmental Quality is encouraging motorists to recycle their old license plates rather than throw them away.

There are several options for Michigan residents to recycle these license plates. Many curbside recycling programs around the state already take scrap metal or have made arrangements to pick up license plates. Interested parties can check with their local recycling program to find out if their license plate can be placed in the recylcing bin or taken to a local recycling drop-off location. To find a local recycling contact, please visit http://www.michigan.gov/deqreswastecontacts.

If a local recycling program does not accept license plates, motorists can look for a scrap metal recycler in their community that will accept license plates. License plates may also be reused in a variety of ways with artists and crafters around the state often setting up collection points to use the license plates in their work.

Before recycling a license plate, it should be destroyed by cutting it in half or bending off a corner to discourage theft and fraud.

In addition to the 5.6 million blue license plates that will be replaced this year, approximately 8,000 state-owned license plates will also be replaced. The Michigan Department of Management and Budget already has a process in place to make sure these state license plates will be recycled.

For additional information, please visit the DEQ Web site at http://www.michigan.gov/deq or call the DEQ Environmental Assistance Center at 1 800 662 9278. To link to the license plate page click here.

Editor's note: DEQ news releases are available on the department's Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

"Protecting Michigan's Environment, Ensuring Michigan's Future"

Revised March 6, 2007 by Pat Watson