Overview

• The amendments to Part 115 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, effective March 29, 2023, require all Michigan counties to develop a new “Materials Management Plan” that emphasizes recycling, organics diversion, and sustainable materials management rather than focusing solely on landfill capacity. To meet the new diversion expectations, Washtenaw County has been implementing numerous waste diversion strategies that each reduce a segment of the landfill stream. Taken together, the waste stream has decreased significantly, but more will need to be done to reach future benchmarks, including “diversion of organics & recyclables from disposal” as a key category for counties to set goals against. The new MMP mentions the municipal solid waste recycling rate goal (30% by 2029, 45% ultimately) as part of that. (Source: https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/egle/Documents/Programs/MMD/Recycling/MMP-Goals-MRC-Presentation-Slides.pdf; https://www.michigan.gov/egle/about/organization/materials-management/solid-waste/planning/materials-management-plans)

• Standard guidelines for Materials Management Plans in Michigan now require counties to set measurable, objective, and specific goals for diverting recyclables and organic materials, including food waste, as well as to provide an implementation strategy and timeline for meeting those goals. (Source: https://www.michigan.gov/egle/-/media/Project/Websites/egle/Documents/Programs/MMD/Solid-Waste/Planning/Materials-Management-Plan-Requirements.pdf)

• The state’s organics-management guidance categorizes “food waste” and certain paper products as “Class 1 Compostable Materials” and sets regulatory oversight requirements for large and medium composting facilities, including registration, inspections, and reporting. (Source: https://www.michigan.gov/egle/-/media/Project/Websites/egle/Documents/Programs/MMD/Compost/Composting-Organics-Management.pdf)

• In addition to recycling and food-scrap diversion, Washtenaw County operates a comprehensive suite of waste-reduction programs that target hazardous materials, medications, and other difficult-to-recycle items. The Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Program accepts paints, batteries, chemicals, and automotive fluids by appointment, while the Medication and Medical Sharps Disposal Network provides safe, year-round drop-off sites to prevent pharmaceuticals and sharps from entering the landfill or waterways. The County also sponsors Cleanup Days for large items—such as appliances, electronics, tires, and furniture—and maintains a “Dispose Of” resource database directing residents to proper outlets for specific waste types. Collectively, these programs divert hundreds of thousands of pounds of hazardous and special materials annually, expanding the county’s materials-management infrastructure beyond curbside recycling and contributing directly to Michigan’s long-term diversion and contamination-reduction goals. (Sources: Washtenaw County – Household Hazardous Waste Disposal; Medication & Medical Sharps Disposal; County Cleanup Days; Dispose Of Resource Directory)

• According to county-level information, roughly 25% of the materials placed into Washtenaw County landfills are compostable food and paper products; the county is implementing a food-scrap drop-off pilot in Ypsilanti (expanding to Dexter and Salem Township) designed to serve up to 300 households and divert approximately 30,000 to 45,000 lbs. of food waste within the first six months. (Source: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/washtenaw-county-launches-food-scrap-composting-pilot-program-how-sign-up)

Transcription

David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to this week’s edition of Issues of the Environment. I’m David Fair, and today, we’re going to take a look at how changes are being implemented to better deal with the waste we create in our county and in our state. 2023 amendments to the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act require all Michigan counties to develop a new Materials Management Plan. It emphasizes recycling, organics diversion and sustainable materials management, rather than focusing solely on landfill capacity. Well, here to discuss how that’s shaping up locally is Theo Eggermont. Theo is Public Works Director for the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office. And nice to talk with you again, Theo!

Theo Eggermont: Nice to talk to you, too! Thanks for having me on!

David Fair: There’s a great deal that goes into a comprehensive Materials Management Plan, but I’d like to start out with something smaller and a little bit more specific, and that is food waste. How significant an issue is food waste when it comes to landfill management and, ultimately, the creation of more greenhouse gasses?

Theo Eggermont: Yeah. So, in both some of the state modeling and the modeling that we’ve gotten through our consultant with the materials management planning process, we’re looking at 25–roughly–percent of material is food waste. So, it’s material that could be put into productive use, and right now, it’s just going into the landfill and take up space and creating methane.

David Fair: Now, this may be a question that goes beyond the scope of your study, but I’d like to ask anyway. Do we know why, or has it been documented as to why, so much food is wasted both locally and across America?

Theo Eggermont: Yeah. So, there’s a number of factors that go into it. The first is we end up buying more food than we need. And that is something that’s normal, but it’s something that comes with a pretty high cost. And some of the EPA data and the amount of food and the cost of that food, for a family of four average household, is throwing away over $2,900 worth of food. So, people are just not used to managing a fridge in a way that reduces food because we’re thinking about it in terms of we want to have extra food when we’re hungry, but we’re not thinking about the impacts of the cost of that food or what happens after it leaves our fridge and after it goes into the garbage can.

David Fair: Washtenaw County has been active in creating programs to improve this situation. The latest is a food scrap drop-off program in Ypsilanti. What is available to residents and what impact do you expect it will have?

Theo Eggermont: Yeah. So, it’s a relatively small pilot, just because we’re trying this out, and it’s somewhat costly. Fortunately, we were able to get a grant through a few sponsors, so it’s BPI, the Biodegradable Products Institute, and then also Closed Loop and the U.S. Composting Council. We got $10,000 from that group, and we were one of three counties to do it. We’re looking at three sites, and the first one has launched in Ypsilanti. That one is currently full, but because it filled up rather quickly, we are looking for an additional location that we can make that work and try to find some funding. So, it might take us a little bit.

David Fair: You’re looking to expand to Dexter and Salem?

Theo Eggermont: To Dexter and Salem, but also, we’re exploring the possibility of could we have another site in the City of Ypsilanti because it was very popular.

David Fair: Oh, okay.

Theo Eggermont: So, we’re evaluating that to see if we can make something work, but the next step is really, yes, we’d like to be at Dexter. We’ve had some conversations with them, and they’re very open to it. We’re just working through the process to get appropriate approvals there. And then, hopefully, we’ll launch before the end of year and then Salem Township. So, we’ve got a city that’s a little bit more dense, a smaller city, and then a township that’s pretty rural. And we hope to learn different things about different areas. So, that’s kind of why those three different spots were chosen. And it’s also we have a presence in those areas, so it’s a bit easier for us to manage. We don’t want to launch something that we can’t manage well. So, if we’re close by, we can provide some additional assistance in that area. So, the three spots that we have, what it will do is will provide a countertop compost bin for people to put their food scraps throughout the week. They’ll drop those off, as they’re able to get to a location that’s nearby hopefully. And then, we have a company that will come and pick up those food scraps. They take it to a location, a compost yard, where they turn that food scraps, they mix it in with a lot of yard waste, and then, it turns into healthy productive compost that people can use for their gardens. And that’s just available through the compost yard.

David Fair: WEMU’s Issues of the Environment conversation with Theo Eggermont continues. Theo serves as Public Works Director for the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office. And obviously, a comprehensive Materials Management Plan covers a wide swath of things. We have traditional recycling programs, a household hazardous waste disposal program, medication and medical sharps disposal network, we have reuse shops that are also beneficial in keeping items out of the landfills on a percentage level. How much are we actually recovering and keeping out of the waste stream?

Theo Eggermont: This is actually a problem because, right now in Washtenaw County, we just kind of have an idea, but part of this materials management planning process is to get a really good idea. So, it’s a lot of estimates right now. And through this planning process, we’re going to be creating the metrics to understand our diversion rate much better, do it on an annual basis and track that to find out if we’re actually making a change in a positive or negative direction. And then, we can figure out what levers we can push to make that positive. So, right now, we’re less than 30%. We’re closer to like 25 or 28, but we may be better than that. We just don’t know yet because our data is not very good. And it’s very complicated because we don’t have a great idea of what businesses are recycling because most municipalities don’t handle that. So, it’s open market, and we don’t have a reporting mechanism or requirement for businesses for example.

David Fair: I know a lot of the people you work with, and some of them are very competitive. So, based on what you do know, it’s my impression that Washtenaw County tends to be ahead of the curve on these kinds of environmental issues. Does that stand up to statistical scrutiny based on the limited data you do have?

Theo Eggermont: We believe so, yes. So, we think we’re a little bit ahead of the curve. We still have a long ways to go. And as I mentioned and we noted, we don’t think we are exceptional in the food waste category. That’s the area of opportunity–the low-hanging, rotting fruit, so to speak. And it’s not benefiting anyone right now. It’s the equivalent of we need to figure out how to turn the lights out when we leave a room. We need to find out how to manage that food effectively, so it’s not creating waste.

David Fair: So, we’re talking about these big environmental and stewardship issues, but most of it comes down to the choices we make in our personal behaviors. Behavior is hard to change.

Theo Eggermont: It is, and, to some extent, that’s why we’re starting with the food scrap drop-off is because it’s a little bit easier. Once you compile the material, you can see how much you generate. And so. It’s tangible, it’s there, and it’s little bit easy to approach. And then, the goal will be, “Let’s do the education and make people more aware on broader level of how they can reduce things, what tools are available and how to approach it.” And then also, the long-term goal is to work with municipalities to make food scraps available throughout the county or at least in a lot more areas than the City of Ann Arbor. Make it available as a part of your guardways, so it’s convenient. Because right now, if you have to bring it somewhere else, it’s helpful and will get some of the people who are really excited about it. But to reach the masses and achieve the scale that we’re looking at, we need to have it more convenient.

David Fair: Well, once again, your work to meet and exceed state-mandated standards, you’re in the process of working with the Materials Management Planning Committee to get a draft organics chapter review before the end of the year. What all is that going to cover? And what will we know then that we don’t know right now?

Theo Eggermont: Yeah. So, we’ll have a lot of data as part of it. And then, we’re going to have some goals. So, it is looking at where do we want to go and what levers do we wanna push on. And so, we’re going to be amending the chapters over time, so once we get towards the end of the process, we’ll actually have the actions. So, right now, it’s a lot of background and why this is important, some data on what we have locally, and then some goals on where should we be headed to make this work.

David Fair: And I would assume it won’t be too much further down the line that you determine a program path and implementation process in order to achieve a longer-term, five-year or even greater goal, right?

Theo Eggermont: Right. We’re talking about what programs might fit, and that’s part of why we decided to launch this because we went to a conference, we got inspired, and we said, “We are in the planning process, but let’s take advantage of this grant while we can, do something to learn about what would potentially work, and then see if we can apply that to a larger program.” And we’re going to be talking about funding in the spring as a part of our planning process. So, we have some ideas about what we could do. Hopefully, we can figure out how to fund it or what partners we might need to make it work. And then, we can include that as a part of the plan.

David Fair: So, there’s a lot to work toward and a lot to work through in 2026. I look forward to the opportunity to talk with you again when we move further along down the line!

Theo Eggermont: I’d appreciate that! That’d be great!

David Fair: That is Theo Eggermont. He serves as Public Works Director for the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office. He’s been our guest on Issues of the Environment. If you would like more information on the topic and to access the audio of this conversation, stop by our website at WEMU.org, and we’ll have it for you. I’m David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University!

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