GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Kent County Recycling Center is replacing its paper sorting machine. That will cause the center to close for about three weeks, from Feb. 24 to March 13.
A resource recovery specialist with the recycling center said the entire plant has to shut down to install new paper screens.
"That means we can’t accept more recycling. We don’t have the capacity to hold Kent County’s three weeks of recycling," said Katelyn Nettler.
The drop off locations in Grand Rapids and Rockford will also be closed during this time starting Feb. 22.
Nettler suggests Kent County residents make sure to take all their recyclables to a drop off location or leave in a curbside bin up until the close date. After that, she says the best option, if possible, is to hold onto recyclable materials until the center opens back up.
“We understand that’s a huge inconvenience, but we’re hoping with the replacement of these discs that leads to better marketability for those materials we’re preparing: the bailed paper," said Nettler.
During this time, waste haulers will be deciding what to do with any recycling left in a bin by the curb.
As the recycling center is closed and not accepting any new materials, waste will not be going where it usually does. Nettler suggests that Kent County residents contact their waste hauler to find out where they will be taking it.
Waste Haulers could take that material to the Waste to Energy Facility, another recycling center, or even the landfill.
Residents can also find other outlets for recycling during this time, like another county location, or PaperGator.
The machine at the Kent County Recycling Center that is being replaced sorts paper material out of the mixed items. Mechanical paper disc screens often are jammed by plastic bags and wrap. Items such as shopping bags, Ziplock bags, and plastic packaging wrap is not recyclable in Kent County.
“We’re seeing a lot of tangelers—those flexible plastics—going through the line. It’s not the best to put them in your curbside recycling bin, but they still make it through anyway. It’s causing a lot of tangling around those paper discs that we’re replacing," said Nettler.
The Kent County Recycling Center is expected to reopen normal operation on March 16.