HANCOCK - The city of Hancock used a grant from Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy – formerly the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality – to purchase recycling bins, which are now available to residents at a reduced rate. The bins, which include a guide on recycling materials through Waste Management’s single stream system, are valued at as much as $60.

The Michigan-made bins are available from the Department of Public Works for a fraction of their market value, according to city counselor William Lytle.

“Even if a resident pays $10 for a bin, it will pay for itself in a couple of months,” said Lytle. Because curbside recycling is free in Hancock, but city bags cost money, recycling – which requires a bin – can save residents money over time.

Recycling requires a bin because plastic bags can jam the machines that allow residents to recycle cans, glass, paper, cardboard, and plastic without sorting it first.

“The greatest detriment to recycling and improving collection rates in both Houghton and Hancock is that many households and most all apartment buildings have no recycling bins,” said David Hall of the Copper Country Recycling Initiative, who supported the city of Hancock in their grant application. “Most student households have no bins. (The CCRI) wants every household in both cities to have bins.”

A similar sentiment was echoed at the January city council meeting, where it was first announced that the bins were available.

“I want to encourage landlords in Hancock to purchase these bins, which are available at a bargain thanks to this grant from (EGLE),” said Planning Commission member Suzan Burack.

400 bins were made available through pickup from the DPW office on Tomasi Drive over the weekend, per an announcement on the city of Hancock website.

For more information on recycling, including how to recycle items other than those acceptable through single stream recycling, visit Waste Management online at wm.com/us or CCRI at coppercountryrecyclereuse.com or find them on Facebook.