Where Does My Kent County Recycling Go?
Grand Rapids has invested in a greener future if we all play the
recycling game. The new $10 million facility has been built on an
old brown field site (former west side Stamping Plant). The profits
of selling recyclables will payback borrowed bonds ahead of the
projected time frame.
Located at 977 Wealthy Street SW in Grand Rapids, MI
Let’s look at some statistics and see if recycling is worthwhile:
- 9130 tons of glass
- 7749 tons of ferrous metal cans
- 225 tons of aluminum
- 12,334 tons of corrugated cardboard
- 3,851 tons of magazines
- 140,182 tons of newspaper
- 10,836 tons of mixed plastics
Since 1993, Kent County has recycled the above totals.
This is equivalent to conserving:
31,595 household’s annual energy consumption
584,281 barrels of oil
27,266,461 gallons of gasoline
One of the best things about Kent County Recycling is no more sorting!
The new facility does all sorting on site, so One Container at the curb
holds all recyclables. The new facility has the capacity to run 3 shifts
a day and has a waiting list for their recyclables. If they had more
products to recycle, they have a robust resale market that wants them.
This is just good stewardship and makes sense to keep all those reusable
items out of our landfills.
Most work at the Kent County Recycling is done by community service,
so there is minimal labor costs.
The New Kent County Recycling Plant:
Processes 18 tons per hour (4-6 tons per hour at the old facility)
Process recyclables 6 hours per day (13 hours per day at the old facility)
Process 108 tons of recyclables per day (40 tons per day at the old facility)
The new facility features a 5,000 square foot education area that
offers two public meeting and classroom areas and a 125-foot long
viewing platform to allow safe overhead viewing of the machinery
processing recyclables.
Kent County Recycling & Education Center in Grand Rapids
is a very successful enterprise. But it could be much more successful
if we all contributed. Do you recycle?
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The authors of the this blog write about Grand Rapids Real Estate, the
Greater Grand Rapids MI area, and what it is like to live in West Michigan.
Grand Rapids Michigan is a vibrant, growing metropolitan area with a
diverse business community, great medical research & services, numerous
universities, plus lively arts and entertainment of all kinds.
We believe: Grand Rapids is a Great Place to Live!
Westbrook Realty Grand Rapids MI Real Estate
Contact Terry 616-292-7263
Consumers know recycling is a good thing but we are still at a point where it needs to be a practice that is convenient and easily understood or it won’t get done on a regular basis.