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Compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) January 21, 2016,
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January 28, 2016
Genesee County, City of Flint and other partners work to educate residents on benefits of recycling
Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016
FLINT, Mich. - A plan to recycle the thousands of plastic bottles being distributed to Flint residents during the water emergency was announced today by a coalition of state, Genesee County and City of Flint partners.
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said the goal is to provide residents with several convenient options.
“While bottled water has been key to making sure residents have safe drinking water, it’s important to make sure we’re not harming our environment as a result,” Calley said. “The new recycling initiative brings together state, county and city partners to make sure we are keeping plastic bottles from entering landfills or littering Flint streets.”
The plan includes drop-off sites for recyclables and increased promotion of the curbside pickup already offered to Flint residents.
“Too few residents take advantage of the curbside service that is available to them at no extra cost. That’s the best long-term solution to the recycling issue,” said Matt Flechter, Recycling Market Development Specialist for the State of Michigan. “As a result, we’re working to get the word out about how you can get a recycling bin or use designated clear plastic bags for recyclables.”
Republic Services, the city’s designated trash and recycle collector, picks up recyclables on a bi-weekly basis according to the pick-up calendar. Call Republic Services at 800-438-0966 to get a blue curbside recycling bin delivered to your door. Residents with overflow recyclables can also place them in clear plastic bags or a box marked “Recycling.”
In addition, Young’s Environmental Cleanup and Schupan Recycling are offering bottle drop-off locations. And TerraCycle will recycle PUR and Brita water filter replacement cartridges dropped off at all five water resource sites located in Flint Fire Stations.
Residents must package recyclables in ways that can be accepted by the recycling operations. Under no circumstances can recyclables be accepted in solid color or grocery bags. Details on what can be recycled are on cityoflint.com. Guidelines, locations, hours and other information are available here.
Other partners helping in the recycling effort are Keep Genesee County Beautiful, Petoskey Plastics, Webcor Packaging, Genesee Packaging, Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and the Michigan Community Service Commission.
As additional recycling options become available, the information will be added to Michigan.gov/flintwater, Flechter said.
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The state of Michigan continues to coordinate response efforts in partnership with the city of Flint, Genesee County, and local community organizations. For information about clean water resources available in Flint—such as bottled water, water filters, home testing kits, and replacement cartridges, please visit www.mi.gov/FlintWater. For information about donating or volunteering in Flint, please visit www.HelpForFlint.com.
