The Van Buren Conservation District has completed a project to improve access to recycling services throughout the communities it serves.
District recycling coordinator Kalli Marshall tells us they finished up the grant-funded work last week, upgrading infrastructure at seven transfer stations to increase drop-off recycling capacity across Van Buren County.
“We opened up two brand new stations, one in Arlington Township and one in the Decatur area that services Hamilton Township, Decatur Township, and the village of Decatur,” Marshall said. “So these allow drop-off recycling access to their communities and did improvements at a few others.”
A $150,000 grant from American Beverage, a trade group representing producers of non-alcoholic beverages around the country, was combined with a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to make the improvements possible.
Marshall says the upgrades at all of these transfer stations mean they’ll be able to serve more people.
“For instance, Paw Paw Township got a bunch of upgrades. They paved their site, so it’s nice and user-friendly.”
American Beverage says the upgrades are projected to divert more than four million pounds of recyclables from landfills, including an estimated 156,000 pounds of PET plastic — the kind used in pop bottles — and 52,000 pounds of aluminum.
Marshall says use of the transfer stations has increased since work on this project started earlier this year. For example, there’s been 15 tons of recycling dropped off in Decatur since its station opened a few months ago. She says that’s brand new recycling that otherwise would have wound up in landfills.
Photo: Ribbon cutting of the Grand Opening of the Decatur Area Waste & Recycling Center. In attendance, representatives of Decatur Township, Village of Decatur, Hamilton Township, and the Van Buren Conservation District.
