Michigan’s bottle deposit law was implemented in 1978 and requires a 10-cent deposit on certain carbonated and mixed-alcohol drink containers that were common at that time. Containers for beverages such as water, juice, milk, hard cider and wine are not included in the law. Implementing a 10-cent deposit on other beverage containers would require an update to the 1978 law.

For answers to additional frequently asked questions about the bottle bill, please visit Deposit Law FAQ.

Each Michigan community makes its own decision on whether to have a recycling program and how the program works. Communities consider many factors in determining whether to offer recycling services.

Many Michigan communities provide curbside or drop-off recycling for residents. However, materials collected in each program may vary based on local recycling facilities’ equipment and capacity, available service providers, costs and demand for recycled material for use in new products.

The statewide “Know It Before You Throw It” campaign provides high-level, universal guidance, while recognizing that the best way for residents to get accurate, up-to-date recycling information is to seek it from their local programs.

Recycling rules depend on your municipality’s recycling system. For example, a Wayne County recycling facility may use different machines to sort and process recyclables than a Kalamazoo facility does, so each has different rules for what materials are accepted. Even neighboring cities may send their recyclables to different places for processing. That’s why it is important to learn the rules for your community so you can recycle right.

Sometimes it may prove difficult to find a local program to accept certain materials. For example, because of fluctuating markets and local program changes, some Michigan residents are unable to find a convenient recycling outlet for glass or certain plastics. Residents are encouraged to contact their local government leaders and program managers to learn the reasons for program changes and to encourage leadership to identify ways to recycle as many materials as possible.

It is commonly overlooked that recycling is a service that costs money. When recyclables and waste leave our curb, they are managed through the recycling system or the disposal system. Recycling costs money because the material must be hauled and managed before it can be used in new products. A service fee is paid to have your garbage picked up at the curb, transferred, and buried at a landfill. Similar to the costs of waste hauling, it also costs money to pick up, transfer, and process recyclables.

For Michigan residents without access to curbside recycling, drop-off locations are the next best way to recycle. The Michigan Recycling Directory can help you find a nearby drop-off recycling location and which materials are accepted at each location. If your apartment or multifamily housing does not currently offer recycling, you could start by having a conversation with your neighbors and building management team about making it available.

The Michigan Recycling Directory can help you find a nearby drop-off recycling location and which materials are accepted at each location.

You can find your EGLE recycling contact information on the regional contact map.

To find a local recycling specialist, visit the list of county recycling contacts.

Recycling processes vary depending on the material, but they all follow the same basic procedure: collection, sorting, cleaning and baling for use in new products.

• Glass is broken down into crushed pieces called cullets before it is heated, turned into liquid and poured into molds to make new products.
• Plastic is sorted by the type of resin it is made from (signified by the number), cut into flakes and cleaned to remove contaminants, then formed into larger pellets that are later melted and molded to make new products.
• Aluminum items are shredded, melted and cooled in a block form called ingot so that they can be cut into sheets and used to make new products.
• Paper is soaked, heated to a pulp and screened to remove impurities, then fed through a machine to create sheets that are dried and used to make new products.

The cleaner the items that go into the recycling bin, the better the recycled material they make for development of new products.

If you live in a community with single-stream recycling, once picked up, your recyclables make their way to a material recovery facility for sorting. It differs by facility, but typically people sort pieces by hand before a magnet pulls out metal objects, infrared lasers sort plastic, spinning rollers or an air puffer sort paper and cardboard, and so on. After they’re sorted, recyclables are processed into raw materials, bundled and then manufactured into new products.

Even though recycling facilities are equipped to separate materials using an automated process (i.e., a magnet is used to pull out metal objects, infrared lasers sort plastic, spinning rollers or an air puffer sort paper and cardboard), people still must do the first round of sorting. Having to stop the conveyor to separate recyclables makes the whole process less efficient, so it is best for consumers to separate materials ahead of time. Common examples of materials that require separating include metal lids from glass jars and aluminum twist-offs from wine, olive oil and sparkling water bottles. Preliminary sorting helps to keep the process moving efficiently. It is important for everyone to do their part.

If the different types of materials are easily separated (e.g., a glass jar with a metal lid), then the item is likely recyclable if separated before being put in your bin. But items that are layered with different materials (e.g., chip bags, juice pouches, etc.) are usually not recyclable because the recycler needs to easily sort the different loose materials (e.g., plastic, metal, glass, paper). Check with your local recycler to see what guidance it has for your community.

Contamination happens when the wrong materials, including food, get into the recycling system. Food contamination can come in many forms, but some common examples include:

• Grease on a pizza box
• Food residue in a jar or can

Food contaminants are particularly likely to leak out of containers onto paper and cardboard in a single-stream recycling process, making those items unrecyclable.

Properly rinsing and emptying recyclables is critical to preparing materials for recycling.

As of 2020, over half (61%) of all recyclable materials collected in Michigan were sold in the state. Buyers include roofing companies, breweries, creative arts companies, manufacturers, universities, container producers, petroleum companies, technology companies, packaging companies, energy providers and entrepreneurs. There is a wide range of applications for recyclable materials, and these are only a few examples of the vast array of buyers.

A few examples include:

• Great Lakes Tissue Co - This Cheboygan-based toilet paper manufacturer uses 2,100 tons of recycled raw material each month – half of which comes directly from recycling operations across the U.S. and Canada.
• Cascade Engineering - This Grand Rapids-based business uses recycled plastics to build their EcoCart, a waste container made of 10% post-consumer HDPE plastic - specifically bulky, rigid items recycled by U.S. consumers, such as laundry baskets that are picked up at the curb but are often difficult to recycle.

State and local governments are not allowed under the U.S. Constitution to ban imports from other countries, such as waste from Canada. In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Michigan law that allowed each Michigan county to control imports of waste from other states and countries violated a portion of the U.S. Constitution known as the Commerce Clause. The Commerce Clause does not allow states to regulate commerce with other states or countries unless permitted by Congress.

Food, liquids or residues left on items can leak out during transportation and sorting, ruining other recyclables, such as paper and cardboard. Manufacturers need a consistent stream of clean material to create high-quality products.

It is not necessary to thoroughly scrub items; a quick rinse is plenty. Find ways to use water that is already headed down the drain. For example, after washing dishes, use leftover dishwater to quickly rinse recyclables.

Beyond that, water is conserved through recycling. It reduces the need to extract and process virgin (nonrecycled) materials, which saves on water use. Recycling also saves energy, creates Michigan jobs and supports our economy. Quickly rinsing soiled recyclables is a small way to have a big impact!

Transporting any type of material requires energy, but the process of recycling material has still proved advantageous because it reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills, conserves natural resources, saves energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps create new jobs – according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Natural resources and energy are conserved whenever a recycled material, rather than a raw material, is used to make a product. This is because recycled materials have already been refined and processed once, so manufacturing the second time is much cleaner and less energy-intensive than the first.

For example, recycling aluminum cans saves 95% of the energy needed to make new cans from raw materials, recycling steel and tin cans saves 60-74%, recycling paper saves about 60% and recycling plastic and glass saves about one-third of the energy compared with making products from raw materials. In total, 1 ton of recycled plastic saves 5,774 kilowatt-hours of energy, 16.3 barrels of oil, 98 million British thermal units of energy and 30 cubic yards of landfill space compared with making new plastic.