New tech will soon tell Holland residents how to boost recycling
HOLLAND — What do high-tech cameras, global positioning systems and computers have to do with recycling? It turns, out quite a bit.
The technology will help educate Holland's residential recycling customers about items not accepted in their curbside recycling bins. Non-accepted items, also known as contaminants, include polystyrene foam, construction, trash and large metal items like lawnmowers.
A lot of these items seem as though they can, and should, be recycled — but that's not always the case. We can all have good intentions to recycle everything, but when contaminants are added, sorting them out of the load costs extra time and money.
The city of Holland is rolling out an education campaign for residential recycling customers with a grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and The Recycling Partnership. The goal is to reduce the overall contamination rate in Holland's residential recycling.
Through the grant, Holland has partnered with Republic Services and Prairie Robotics to utilize their technology — high-tech cameras, global positioning systems and computers — on recycling trucks used in the city. This technology will scan loads dumped into recycling trucks and recognize contaminants. It then will produce customized feedback via a postcard sent to individual households.
The postcards will help educate residents on how to recycle properly, sharing what can be recycled in their cart and how they can decrease contamination. Eliminating contaminants will increase Holland’s recycling rate.
The city has a long-time commitment to recycling, going back decades. Holland rolled out curbside recycling bins to residential customers in May 2022. Switching from the yellow bags to the bins greatly reduced contamination rates, which are down to 10%.
At the same time, the community's participation rate has increased to 70%. Both of these rates are excellent, but can still be improved upon.
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"Recycling properly saves our taxpayers money by reducing the cost of sending materials that could have been recycled to the landfill, supports jobs and improves the health of the environment,” said Holland Sustainability Manager Dan Broersma.
“We know residents want to recycle the right way, and through this campaign, we are providing personalized, real-time feedback to help them do just that."
It’s about improving community outcomes one household at a time. It's about MiSustainableHolland.
— Marianne Manderfield is public information coordinator for the City of Holland.
About This Series:MiSustainable Holland is a collection of community voices sharing updates about local sustainability initiatives.This Week’s Sustainability Framework Theme: Community Knowledge: The collective knowledge and energy of the community is an incredible resource that must be channeled to where it's needed.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: New tech will soon tell Holland residents how to boost recycling
