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Trash Bash: Speakers support recycling

HANCOCK – About 50 people filled the community room of Lakeview Manor in Hancock Tuesday for a joint meeting of the Hancock and Houghton city councils. Most were there to express support for the expansion of curbside recycling.

On the agenda for the meeting was the review of requests for proposals both cities sent out to private waste collection companies, and the requests included curbside recycling collection.

Submitting proposals for waste collection to Hancock were Eagle Waste and Recycling of Eagle River, Wisconsin and Waste Management of Michigan. Houghton received proposals from Eagle Waste, Waste Management and Great American Disposal of Kingsford. All proposals include biweekly recycling collection.

Although there was no discussion or action taken by the councils on the proposals, comments from the public urged the councils to choose a company that provides the most comprehensive recycling collection.

First to speak during public comment period was Evan McDonald, executive director of the Keweenaw Land Trust and member of the Copper Country Recycling Initiative.

McDonald said the CCRI members have been studying which recycling methods would be most effective.

“It quickly became obvious to our group the best opportunity for recycling was a curbside program,” he said.

McDonald asked the people in attendance how many were at the meeting wanted curbside recycling, and almost all of them raised their hands. He said that response is what he’s hearing from community members.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in our community,” he said.

McDonald said the better method for curbside recycling is the use of bins rather than plastic bags.

“We need bins,” he said. “We have winter. We have animals.”

The members of the CCRI would like to see recycling eventually expanded to the communities outside Hancock and Houghton.

“This is going to take some coordination,” he said.

David Hall, who is a member of the CCRI, said people need to think about recycling on a larger scale than just Hancock and Houghton.

“This is a regional problem,” he said.

Hall said he appreciates that Hancock has had curbside recycling for years, but too few residents take part.

“This only reaches about 4 percent of the waste stream,” he said.

Hall said he thinks eventually about 50 percent of the waste stream can be recycled, if people work together.

Susan Burack, Hancock resident, former Hancock City Council member, and CCRI member, said it’s important glass collection be part of the curbside recycling effort.

Suzanne Van Dam, CCRI co-chairwoman, said it’s good the two cities are working together on possibly choosing the same company to do the recycling.

Van Dam said she thinks many people want to have a good curbside recycling program.

“The support is really amazing,” she said.

Comments from other audience members included:

If the two cities do have curbside recycling, it could spur an effort to do countywide recycling.

It is important any recycling program include businesses.

Many other communities in Michigan and the rest of the country have curbside recycling.

A Michigan Technological University student said many Tech students support the idea of recycling.

Recycling must be convenient for people if it is to be successful.

It is possible a local recycling business could be developed.

Curbside recycling will complement Michigan’s existing bottle deposit law.

There were no comments opposing curbside recycling. The next step for the cities is to consider the submitted proposals for waste collection.

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