EAST LANSING, Mich. – Enhancements to the City of East Lansing’s recycling opportunities will begin this fall and continue through 2018 thanks to two grant awards from the Michigan Department of Environmental Equality (MDEQ).
The MDEQ awarded a $14,760 Recycling Infrastructure Grant to the City of East Lansing, which will be used to expand public space recycling in downtown East Lansing as well as several parks and recreational areas (i.e. the East Lansing Family Aquatic Center and East Lansing Softball Complex) in the community.
“The City’s goal is simple: to provide residents and visitors to the community with opportunities to recycle where they live, work and play, seamlessly,” said East Lansing Environmental Services Administrator Cathy DeShambo.
The grant funds will also be used to create a Styrofoam recycling station at the East Lansing Department of Public Works drop-off recycling site, located at 1800 E. State Road.
“Styrofoam is one of the materials our residents have cited most as something they would like to recycle,” said East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas. “Unfortunately, we are not able to incorporate it into our curbside recycling program at this time, but this grant funding does allow us to create a local drop-off option for that specific material.”
The MDEQ also awarded a $4,000 Recycling Education Grant to the City of East Lansing, which will be used for new outreach and education materials aimed at increasing participation, educating new residents and controlling contamination in the recycling stream.
Additionally, as the City continues to work to increase recycling opportunities for residents of large multi-family properties, the funds will be used to create a tool kit for multi-family housing recycling that can be used by East Lansing property managers and serve as a model to be replicated by other communities.