Michigan awards $5.6M in recycling, waste reduction grants

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has awarded $5.6 million in Circular Economy Grants through its NextCycle Michigan accelerator program to advance recycling and develop Michigan’s circular supply chains.

The grants, which range from $50,000 to $250,000, will support the development of supply chains in Michigan involving waste material streams through material reuse, repair, remanufacturing, recycling, organics recovery, composting and increasing markets for recovered materials.  

Applications came from across the state, plus a few out-of-state entities. In all, 71 applicants requested more than $12 million. 

The 30 grant recipients represent urban, rural and suburban areas throughout Michigan’s two peninsulas. Six selected projects will positively impact Historically Underserved Business Zones, EGLE says.

These projects encompass 17 material categories, with food waste being the largest at 23 percent, followed by plastics at 10 percent. Projects’ focus areas include developing commercialization of recycled-content products and creating a market for recycled materials; new or improved collection or sorting of recovered materials; and upstream solutions with reuse, repair or remanufacturing. 

Grant recipients include:  

• Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit: $235,000 to buy equipment, train staff and promote the Community Uplift Program providing no-cost salvaged building materials like doors, windows, lumber and appliances to low-income residents;
• Chippin’ In, Detroit: $167,000 to buy equipment and develop collection kiosks for chip bags and other recyclable materials to be processed into warming kits for distribution to homeless populations in underserved communities;
• Cirba Solutions, Wixom: $193,155 to install an automated battery sorting line using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve the efficiency and economics of battery recycling;
• City of Ann Arbor: $99,630 to engage with frontline communities, businesses and institutions affected most by environmental hazards using the insights to create a Circular Economy Action Plan;
• Design Declassified, Grand Rapids: $250,000 to scale operations to transform locally sourced discarded plastic into durable, solid-surface materials for countertops, tables, wall panels and furniture to sell to local and national furniture manufacturers and architectural firms;
• Ed’s Used Parts and Salvage, Hancock: $116,685 to buy equipment to prepare organic materials for composting on site, establishing the first municipal waste separation and organics recycling facility in the western Upper Peninsula; 
• Fibarcode, Ann Arbor: $43,000 for research and testing of embedded fabric labeling technologies to improve the sorting of textiles for reuse, repair and recycling;
• Goodwill Industries of West Michigan, Muskegon: $250,000 to develop a process for the manufacturing of eco-conscious wood products made from unsellable and scrap wood-based materials received through its donated goods programs;
• Goodwill’s Green Works, Detroit: $250,000 to expand the appliance recycling program and launch an appliance repair workforce training program to extend the useful life of repairable appliances including stoves, dishwashers, washers and dryers;
• Great Lakes Fusion, Durand: $199,760 to establish a residential and commercial organics waste drop-off and material processing site in Durand;  
• Great Lakes Recycling of Oak Park: $155,000 to buy equipment to safely and efficiently dismantle used electric vehicle (EV) battery packs and ship them to recycling streams per U.S. Department of Transportation safety regulations;
• Hendricks Foundation, Harper Woods: $166,541 to buy advanced equipment to expand the ability to recycle electronics and train students on electronic diagnostic and repair skills; 
• Llink Technologies, Brown City: $250,000 to buy an upgraded robotic station to increase the capacity of remanufacturing damaged headlights into original equipment manufacturer-warrantied headlights;
• Make Food Not Waste, Southfield: $234,806 to test various food scrap collection scenarios in multifamily housing locations;
• Metro Food Rescue, Detroit: $250,000 to pilot a program to rescue produce daily from vendors at the Detroit Produce Terminal to be distributed to community food pantries, shelters and kitchens or to be separated for composting;
• Michigan Energy Options, East Lansing: $188,000 to buy equipment to collect used but still usable solar panels and install the panels on projects with social impact, such as community organizations and affordable housing complexes;
• NextEnergy, Detroit: $210,492 to research and field test an autonomous robotic collection platform and reclaiming process to repurpose commercial organic waste from restaurants into value-added products for use by the same participating restaurants; 
• OkaTerra, Grand Rapids: $218,000 to enhance material prototyping and carry out environmental and safety testing for an initiative focused on commercializing the use of waste wool from Michigan farmers to create products, including sound-absorbing screens for the contract furniture market;
• PakItGreen, East Lansing: $120,056 to buy equipment to produce and commercialize a packaging product from long-fiber food and agricultural waste in combination with a sustainable, food-safe polymer;
• Perfect Circle Recycling, Grand Rapids: $155,000 to buy three 10,000-gallon refrigerated tanks to integrate into existing material depackaging processes, enabling the recovery of surplus milk from suppliers and repurposing it as animal feed for local farms; 
• PLOP, Southfield: $250,000 to source materials, develop product and enter the market by using 3D printing technology to convert mixed-color glass material into architectural tiles;
• Post Rock, Ann Arbor: $56,000 to scale conversion of end-of-life plastics into durable building materials and secure key safety certification for fire and smoke propagation; 
• Public Thread, Grand Rapids: $210,700 to research and develop capacity growth and processes for material collection and sorting and collaborate with local designers and innovators to upcycle postconsumer apparel and textiles; 
• Ramme’s, Ironwood: $150,000 to buy equipment and hire additional staff to recycle copper from holiday lights, extension cords and other plastic-coated copper-containing materials;
• Recycle Ann Arbor: $249,999 to design and install a robotics and recognition system to capture and recover an additional 100-200 tons of recyclables annually at the material recovery facility; 
• Revolin Sports, Holland: $242,000 for research and machinery to fabricate lightweight, high-performance composite materials made from recycled thermoplastics into products such as pickleball paddles and eventually in industries such as automotive, office furniture and construction;
• Peaine Township and St. James Township, Beaver Island: $86,000 to buy reverse vending machines and supporting equipment to establish a community redemption center at the Beaver Island Transfer Stations and Recycling Center; 
• Takeout Takeout, Lansing: $185,400 to pilot new inventory tracking systems, including the use of smart collection bins, for reusables in closed- and open-loop systems at venues and restaurant hubs;
• Veolectra, Farmington Hills: $250,000 to develop a prototype for a portable energy storage system that provides backup power for first responders and in critical natural disaster situations using repurposed EV battery packs; and
• We ReUse, Bloomfield: $200,000 to buy equipment to manufacture reusable stainless steel foodware products such as cups, sporks, trays, boats and baskets to replace single-use paper and plastic products and set up pilot programs in Detroit-area organizations providing food service.

“The Circular Economy Grants fund innovation and collaboration to reimagine the reuse and recycling of materials,” says Matt Flechter, recycling markets specialist at EGLE. “Through programs like NextCycle and accompanying grants, Michigan is progressing toward the goal of a 30 percent recycling rate by 2029. Michigan’s economy and our environment both benefit when we attract and grow innovative businesses like these.”