FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                            

April 22, 2026                                

Contact: Mike Nowlin

Cell: 989-450-0855

On Earth Day (April 22), 

Michigan announces the state’s

recycling rate is at a five-year record high

Materials Michiganders recycled in FY2025 would equal the weight of 10 Mackinac Bridges, fill the football stadiums of the Detroit Lions, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University, plus the Detroit Zoo

LANSING, Michigan — The recycling rate in the Great Lakes State is at a record high for the fifth consecutive year, according to a new analysis of data that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced today on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22.

From fiscal year (FY) 2024 to 2025, Michiganders increased their recycling to a total tonnage of 800,940 tons. Michiganders recycled more than 60,000 tons of glass, 577,000 tons of paper and paper products, and 41,000 tons of plastics and plastic products. 

This equates to every person in Michigan recycling nearly 158 pounds of cardboard boxes, milk cartons, soup cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, food waste and other recyclable materials over a 12-month span, EGLE researchers found.

The combined total of recyclables is the equivalent of the weight of 10 Mackinac Bridges and would fill the football stadiums of the Detroit Lions, University of Michigan and Michigan State University, plus filling the 125-acre Detroit Zoo.

More Fun Facts

• If the 800,940 tons of material were in recycling carts side by side, they would stretch around the moon over three times!
• If the amount of paper, metal, glass, and plastic were in recycling carts, they would stretch from:
  • Traverse City to Detroit: 50 round-trips
  • Lansing  to Detroit: 142 round-trips
  • Saginaw - Detroit: 125 round-trips
  • Kalamazoo - Detroit: 91 round-trips
  • Grand Rapids - Detroit: 81 round-trips
  • Alpena -  Detroit: 51 round-trips
  • Marquette - Detroit: 28 round-trips
• If you spread all 800,940 tons of Michigan’s residential recyclables collected last year across every elementary‑school playground in the state, the pile would be nearly 50 feet deep!

EGLE leaders attribute the state’s recycling success to funding for infrastructure and technical support for projects that increase access to recycling services, along with the national award-winning “Know It Before You Throw It” education campaign featuring the Recycling Raccoon Squad. 

“State investment, community action, communication, and collaboration are driving progress across Michigan’s local recycling systems,” said EGLE Director Phil Roos. “Millions of Michiganders have greater access to recycling than ever before, and more material than ever is being successfully reclaimed and repurposed in our growing circular economy.”

EGLE made the recycling-record-setting announcement this morning at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Outdoor Adventure Center (OAC) in Detroit at an event featuring all six Recycling Raccoon mascots.

Approximately 60 fourth- and fifth-graders from American Montessori Academy in Westland were on hand to enjoy a new state-of-the-art big-screen TV video game and other hands-on education activities focused on proper recycling. EGLE developed the curriculum in partnership with the DNR’s OAC.

American Montessori Academy in Westland is a 2025-2026 Michigan Green School at the Evergreen Level, which is the highest honor awarded by EGLE. Westland’s American Montessori Academy (AMA) recycled the most materials in the school’s history this year under the leadership of instructor Manny Jones and the AMA’s Green Team by recycling a total of 73% of all school waste. In addition, for the first time in American Montessori Academy history, every classroom has a dedicated recycling program catered to their particular classroom makeup.

Changing Behaviors & Increasing Confidence

Data from EGLE statewide surveys of more than 1,000 Michiganders in 2018 and 2025 show the campaign has generated tremendous positive impacts on Michiganders:

• Nearly 4 in 5 Michiganders report a positive impact on their household recycling after seeing the campaign, including changing recycling habits and becoming more mindful to follow recycling rules.
• More than 3 in 4 Michiganders (76%) in 2025 reported being confident about what materials they can recycle.
  • Up 19% since 2018 when only 64% felt confident.
• 77% of Michiganders agree there are clear-cut rules about what can be recycled.
  • Up 17% from 2018 when only 66% agreed.
• 7 in 10 people know where to double-check recycling rules in 2025,
  • Up from only 5 in 10 in 2018.
• 4 out of 5 Michiganders say they’d like to learn more about at least one recycling topic.

The improved recycling performance is helping Michigan advance the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, commissioned by Governor Gretchen Whitmer as a roadmap to a sustainable, prosperous, healthy, equitable, carbon-neutral Michigan economy by 2050. Carbon neutrality is the global science-based benchmark for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the most devastating and costly impacts of climate change.

Recycling in Michigan supports 72,500 jobs and contributes more than $17 billion a year to the state’s economy, according to an analysis by EGLE’s NextCycle Michigan Initiative.

Recycling Access Improves

More Michiganders than ever have access to recycling services.

EGLE and national nonprofit The Recycling Partnership have together rolled out more than 353,000 new curbside recycling carts in 35 communities statewide, serving more than a combined 1.2 million Michiganders since 201.

“Recycling is not only the right thing to do – it’s also the smart thing to do,” said EGLE Materials Management Division Director Tracy Kecskemeti. “Recycling properly saves Michigan taxpayers money by increasing the value of recycled materials, supporting Michigan jobs and improving the health of the environment.”

Today’s recycling announcement coincides with the state’s celebration of Earth Day, as proclaimed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/proclamations/2026/04/22/april-22-2026-earth-day

This annual event is celebrated to raise awareness about environmental issues and promote actions to protect the planet. In Michigan, Earth Day is observed with activities including sustainability initiatives, environmental cleanups, and educational event.

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