Researchers Study Value Of Trash Thrown Out

The old adage goes “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and a group of researchers have been sifting through Michigan’s garbage trying to find out how much of that treasure is in our landfills.

The goal of the state-funded project is to learn how much reusable material is making it into our solid waste stream.

And Daniel Schoonmaker of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum says they plan to use the information gained from the field and apply current commodities data to put a dollar amount on the material.

The project is funded by the state Department of Environmental Quality.