LANSING, Mich. — Lansing and East Lansing have partnered with Emterra Environmental on a new facility that will keep recycling operations local.
“It's a good partnership, a good regional partnership between the cities of Lansing and East Lansing. It's environmentally friendly, and it'll make sense economically,” said Lansing Mayor Schor.
Both cities will send their recyclables to the material recovery facility at 1159 S. Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing. The facility is where recyclable materials are taken to be sorted before they are shipped to other markets to be made into new products.
Mayor @andyschor today announced that Emterra Environmental opened a new Material Recovery Facility (MRF), the first of its kind in mid-Michigan, in the City of Lansing in partnership with the City of East Lansing.
— City of Lansing, MI (@lansingmichigan) April 20, 2021
Press Release: https://t.co/OBsxcxSBSJ. pic.twitter.com/ZmJtt240Nn
The cities did a request for proposals years ago, for a new provider, Schor said Emterra was the only one to recommend building a facility in Lansing.
“The old contract that we had, the prices were significantly raised. So to have the facility to store them here locally, which was in really bad shape, and then to have to truck them out of town and to sell them. It just became very expensive for taxpayers,” Schor said.
Before the partnership, materials were sent to the Detroit area.
Schor said in a press release that this will help both cities save money, reduce fuel use, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Lansing and East Lansing plan to send approximately 7,500 tons of recyclable materials to the Emterra facility each year.
“We are looking forward to the environmental and economic benefits that will be achieved as a result of this new facility," East Lansing Mayor Aaron Stephens said in a statement, "and we would like to thank Emterra Environmental and the City of Lansing for partnering with us to make this project a reality.”
Both cities have updated their recycling guidelines which can be found at lansingrecycles.com and cityofeastlansing.com/recycle.
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