EGLE Awards Electronic Recycling Grants

Goodwill of Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan is one of several organizations in rural communities receiving grant funding for electronics recycling from the state.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) awarded $105,586 in grants to a total of five applicants during the first round of Rural Electronics Recycling Grants.

These grants will fund 17 permanent community electronics drop-off locations and eight community collection events in rural communities across the state.

Community events provide affordable, convenient, electronics recycling opportunities to residents.

Using properly registered recyclers assures that the electronics are properly managed through their end-of-life.

The grants will establish 11 year-round collections sites in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Grant recipients and the proposed use:

• Northeast Michigan Council of Governments – Alpena County ($10,000): The grant will support the purchase of a storage building at the Alpena Resource Recovery Center to allow the dry storage of collected electronics.
• Goodwill of Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan – 15 Counties ($51,110): The grant supports the establishment of permanent electronics collection locations across the UP; the purchase of handling equipment to support the collection network; a series of electronics community collection events in 2019; and the secure handling of data-containing devices from collection to the point of recycling.
• Hillsdale County ($10,000) – The grant supports two electronics collection events and the establishment of a permanent collection location in the northern part of the county.
• Ottawa County ($26,976) – The grant supports the establishment of secure storage locations at the four county recycling sites; allows the purchase of on-site handling equipment and provides partial support to the county to continue the collection of hard to recycle items.
• City of West Branch ($7,500) – The grant allows the city to upgrade their electronics storage building and expands the electronics collection to all residents in Ogemaw County. Improperly dumped electronics pose environmental hazards due to the heavy metals contained in certain equipment. Recycling electronics creates jobs, assures personal information and data-containing devices are properly managed, and reduces the need for obtaining precious and rare-earth metals through energy intensive means.

More information can be found on the Michigan’s Electronics Recycling Program web site.