MML Review Magazine Summer 2026

CURBSIDE RECYCLING

How Communities Can Meet (and Surpass!) Recycling Benchmarks

A child recycling a plastic bottle in Benzie County, 2021. Image credit: EGLE

By Matt Flechter If you’re a municipal leader in Michigan today, chances are recycling is on your mind and on your community’s agenda. Good news: The State of Michigan has guidelines and support to make recycling improvements achievable no matter where your community is starting from. In 2022, an update to the state’s solid waste law, known as Part 115 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, became law, calling for counties to implement a materials management plan focusing on recyclable materials. In 2025, Michigan reached a record-high recycling rate of 26 percent—the fifth straight yearly increase. The state’s overall goal is a 45 percent rate, with no hard deadline but with an interim step of 30 percent by 2029. That target was set out in House Bill 4455 of 2021, which also set benchmark standards for access to recycling services. So, what do these Benchmark Recycling Standards (BRS) mean for your community? How can you leverage planning, funding, and technical assistance to meet (and exceed) them? BRSs represent a baseline to help assess where your community stands. At their heart is a simple question: Do your residents have reasonable access to recycling? For curbside service, there’s a clear metric: Access for 90 percent of single-family homes by January 1, 2026, in U.S. Census urban areas and by January 1, 2028, for nonurban municipalities with more than 5,000 residents. “Access” means collection at least twice a month, whether by local government or a private hauler, with materials properly processed at compliant facilities.

Access is the foundation, because if residents can’t recycle easily, participation and overall recycling rates will stall. But access alone can fall short without information and outreach. Do your residents and businesses know how to recycle? Is information easy to find and consistent? If recycling services are opt-in, how can you increase enrollment? This is where Materials Management Planning becomes essential. A Materials Management Plan (MMP) is designed to map existing recycling access across your planning area, identify gaps, and outline steps to close those gaps. The process can reveal important nuances: • A community may technically offer curbside recycling but with low participation due to cost barriers. • Subscription-based services may exist, but residents aren’t aware of them. • Information about what’s recyclable may be hard to find or inconsistent. MMPs are meant to reveal and solve challenges like these. While recycling carts and curbside service get most of the attention, drop-off recycling is vital, especially in rural or lower-density areas. By January 1, 2032, counties must ensure drop-off locations are provided and open at least 24 hours a month based on the number of residents without curbside access: • One site per 10,000 residents in counties with under 100,000 population. • One site per 50,000 residents in counties with over 100,000 population.

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| Summer 2026