Howell-based recycling group plans bigger, better drop-off site. Here's what they're up to

HOWELL — After decades operating out of a trailer, Recycle Livingston's drop-off site is set to see major, grant-funded upgrades — as well as a new name — as part of an effort to increase recycling.

Recycle Livingston, a volunteer-run nonprofit, plans to construct a new processing and administrative building, and purchase heavy-duty equipment, including for bailing and compacting materials, for its 170 Catrell St. site.

Recycle Livingston, which serves the entire county, obtained more than $282,000 from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, with the city as the fiduciary. The Kellogg Family Foundation is contributing $171,000 in matching funds.

Howell city officials Monday night approved an agreement between the city, Recycle Livingston and the foundation, which outlines responsibilities and obligations each has related to the grants and completion of the project. EGLE grant fund are being awarded to the city, which has the responsibility for disbursing grant money for the project.

Grants funds will purchase two vertical balers and stationary compactors, and replace other equipment, including a heavy-duty forklift and two heavy-duty pallet jacks. The group is considering additional upgrades to the building plan that could increase costs by more than $33,000. Per an agreement, Recycle Livingston would pay no more than $23,000 of that cost increase, with the foundation to cover $10,000.

Kellogg Family Foundation board member Sarah Tottingham said the foundation supports the recycling site's mission of keeping waste out of landfills.

"With Recycle Livingston, they do a lot of education about recycling, and education is a huge thing for us," Tottingham said. "Caring about our community, caring about our environment is huge for us. With this expansion, it’s really going to help Recycle Livingston but it will also help the community," she continued.

The facility will be renamed the Kellogg Environmental Center, according the agreement between the city, nonprofit and foundation.

"Recycle Livingston has a great edge, because they only accept things that are up to par, so they can produce clean materials. They have done a lot with a little," she said.

Tottingham also said upgrades will allow Recycle Livingston to generate more revenue.

"Now they can process more themselves and make that money," she said.

Upgrades expand opportunities for Recycle Livingston

Recycle Livingston Executive Director Julie Cribley said she hopes the new building and equipment will improve operations, allow them to increase volume and provide them more freedom.

"Right now, we're compacting material, but it still needs to go somewhere and be bailed," Cribley said. "Now that we are able to bail, we can go to vendors and guarantee a better financial package."

She said the facility currently uses a compactor owned by GFL Environmental, one of its vendors.

"It's going to be really, really nice not to be dependent," she said. "GFL is more financially minded, they dictate market price for us. I’m really excited about the freedom it will give us. It would be great to have a secure financial system in place for the material we collect."

She said they also plan to add programs and are always looking for ways to collect more types of materials.

"We'd like to be sure we have a backyard composting project going," she said of future plans. "We’d also like to get a worm farm going, because there are benefits I don’t know if people are aware of."

Nonprofit officials would like to increase membership by 20% to 25% in the first year after construction.

Cribley said they now have about 2,000 customers who have signed up for memberships, mostly residential customers and some businesses.

Anyone can drop off materials Wednesdays and Saturdays, whether they are a member or not. Non-members pay a $10 fee for residential or $35 for commercial drop-offs. Memberships range from $30 (senior) to $130 (business). Members receive additional perks, including the ability to schedule special large drop-offs.

Cribley said memberships have grown in the last several years, up several hundred from 2019, when nonprofit officials reported more than 1,600, and memberships help keep the nonprofit financially stable. Other funding comes from donations and revenue from selling materials.

Nonprofit officials reported in EGLE grant materials in 2019 that more than 117,000 vehicles visited the public drop-off recycling collection center and left more than 306 tons of recyclables, 850 cans of recyclable latex paint and more than 83,000 cubic feet of Styrofoam.

Cribley said Recycle Livingston will continue to be mostly volunteer-operated with only a few paid employees, but they may be able to add more paid positions in the future.

In addition to the drop-off site, many Livingston County residents have access to curbside recycling programs through their private waste management services.

Cribley said when Recycle Livingston was founded, she had a sense that the need for a drop-off would decrease with other recycle programs, including curbside pick-up programs.

"We're different than curbside, and we see a lot of the curbside operations not operating as they’d hope," she said. "We found out there is a need for drop-off recycling."

Beginnings in grocery store parking lot

As a co-founder of Recycle Livingston, Cribley remembers when the group operated from VG's Grocery's parking lot in Howell Township before setting up on Catrell Street. She said she is excited about getting a real building.

"The fact we’re going to have a new office will be nice. We'll have a meeting space in there, where we can have small groups to work on education," she said.

Howell City Manager Erv Suida said the city will continue leasing the city-owned property to Recycle Livingston for $1 and provide some site maintenance services, including snow plowing and mowing. The current 10-year lease expires in 2028.

Suida said the city purchased the property on Catrell Street to allow Recycle Livingston to have its own site. The lease with the city began in 1991.

"It got so popular (at VG's) they were looking for a home, so the city acquired (the property)," he said.

"It’s not just for the city of Howell," he said. "It’s for the surrounding community, the townships use it. With curbside pickup they don't take everything from the curb, but (Recycle Livingston) takes paint, different types of plastics, also fabrics. It's a lot more than you can put in a recycle bin. Curbside is limited."

The improvements at the site are bound to be large part of the legacy Cribley will leave behind whenever it becomes time for others to take it over.

"I was one of the founding members, and I want to make sure when I retire that it’s in really good shape and attractive to other people to keep it in shape and continue," she said.

Some site preparation work for the upgrades, including utilities, is expected to begin this winter, with the building and equipment coming next spring and summer.

Here's what you can recycle

Recycle Livingston currently collects a variety of materials, including:

• American flags

• Appliances

• Batteries

• Carboard and boxboard

• Cellphones

• Christmas lights

• Clothing, towels, and some wearable shoes and boots

• Confidential documents for shredding

• Hard drives and electronics

• Eyeglasses and hearing aids

• Glass

• Latex paint

• Metal

• Mixed paper

• Newspaper

• Plastics No. 1 and No. 2 (currently for members only)

• Red Barrel unused medications and sharps

• Styrofoam

• Televisions

• Up-to-date information on what materials they collect is posted on Recycle Livingston's website, at recyclelivingston.org

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com. 

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Drop-off recycling site's makeover on the way in Howell