Food Waste Projects Improve Climate and Circularity
Nearly two dozen teams focused on food waste reduction and organic materials recovery have participated in the NextCycle Michigan program to take their projects to the next level. Read more about their efforts and impacts in Michigan.
Upper Peninsula Well Represented Among NextCycle Michigan Teams
Michigan’s upper peninsula boasts 30% of the state’s landmass, but only 3% of its population. Its rural nature results in a recycling capture rate of only 2%. However, several teams are making an impact on recycling infrastructure, organic material recovery, and innovative recycling technology.
Disaster Debris Management Planning Project Develops Into Model
When disasters occur, communities often generate as much waste as they ordinarily would in weeks or months. Establishing a Disaster Debris Management Plan was the focus for a NextCycle team of two resource recovery authorities, representing 21 communities in Oakland County, MI.
Northeast Michigan Forges Ahead to Develop Comprehensive Rural Recycling
The 5,000 square mile NEMCOG region of Northeast lower Michigan is home to over 132,000 people. Residential access to recycling varies by community. Area counties took action to strengthen recycling across the region.
Collaboration Turns Unusable Donations Into Feedstock for Manufacturing New Goods
Donation-based resale stores receive some donations that are unsaleable and not accepted in traditional recycling programs. A new collaboration is utilizing a proprietary process to turn wood waste (like broken furniture) into raw material for manufacturing.
AI-Enabled Robots Pave The Way Toward Automated Recycling
Learn about NextCycle Michigan team, Glacier, and their robots that are custom-designed to sort dozens of commodity types across a sort line of any width.
Electric Vehicles Have Arrived & So Have the Battery Recyclers
The rise of EVs is a critical part of the opportunity to transition to a cleaner transportation system. NextCycle Michigan teams are striving to ensure that batteries can be recovered to feed back into the supply chain.
Urban Ashes Redirects Wood Waste
The first tree removed as part of the Ann Arbor CUT Model, a large black locust.
Managing Community Food Waste in Grand Rapids
NextCycle coaches helped Wormies to develop a business plan and pitch to scale their operations and meet the growing demand for food scrap collection and composting.
