What can you recycle in Manchester?

by Sara Swanson

Did you know Michigan has a recycling rate goal? By 2029, the State of Michigan hopes to achieve a recycling rate of 30% or more. According to the Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and the Environment, Michigan’s recycling rate has risen from 14.25% in 2019 to over 23% today. Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority reports that “with increasing investment in recycling access, we’re on track to achieve a rate of 30% by 2029 and that around 75% of Michiganders now have access to recycling, including 100% of western Washtenaw!”

In the Manchester area we have two recycling providers. City of Manchester residents have weekly curbside recycling from Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS, formerly Modern Waste) and the rest of the Manchester area have recycling access through Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority (WWRA), which has two collection sites in our area, one behind Manchester Township Hall and the other behind Bridgewater Country Market in Bridgewater.

With these multiple locations and providers of recycling for area residents, it is natural that there can be confusion! Are City residents allowed to put glass in the curbside bins still? Wasn’t there a ban on recycling glass? One resident posed jokingly that she had heard that paper is also no longer an acceptable item to place in your curbside recycle bin because paper is notorious for causing paper cuts, and it, too, has become quite a hazard to those working in recycling facilities.

So what can you recycle and where?

Both curbside in the City and in the WWRA drop-off bins you can recycle: newspaper, junk mail, magazines, white office paper, paper bags, cereal boxes, cardboard, corrugated cardboard boxes, and boxboard — please flatten all boxes. No shredded paper.

Both curbside in the City and in the WWRA drop-off bins you can recycle: plastic bottles #1–7 — such as milk jugs and detergent bottles and cottage cheese and yogurt containers, etc. (remove caps and lids, rinse well, and flatten; labels may be left on). In the WWRA bins you can recycle rigid plastics such as buckets, soda crates, and flower pots. Neither location accepts grocery store plastic bags, plastic wrap, bubble wrap, or other soft plastics.

Both curbside in the City and in the WWRA drop-off bins you can recycle: tin and aluminum cans and lids (remove labels, rinse well, flatten if possible) and small metals and aluminum, including aluminum foil if clean.

City curbside recycling permits empty, clean glass bottles and jars. WWRA accepts glass BUT only in their glass-specific bins and the glass must be separated in color and clear. The glass bins are rotated through their different bin locations; however, because of noise complaints associated with glass, the glass bin is no longer cycled through the Manchester Township Hall location. It is, however, still cycled through the Bridgewater location. Neither location accepts mirrors, window glass, or light bulbs.

Neither location accepts styrofoam of any kind, household batteries, tires, propane tanks, “tanglers,” including hose, wire, chains, and cords, construction waste, and/or dirty recyclables.

If you are in doubt about what you can or can’t recycle, visit https://www.lrsrecycles.com/recycling101/ for curbside in the City information, and https://wwrarecycles.org/what-can-i-recycle/ for what you can recycle in WWRA’s bins.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.