Composting, Recycling Vital to Island's Waste Management Efforts
By Leslie Rott

Paul Wandrie with compost made and sold on Mackinac Island.

With a significant influx of new people to the Mackinac Island community every summer, the Mackinac Island Department of Public Works is eager to educate residents about the city's waste management system.

Much of the Island's garbage is shipped to a landfill in Dafter, south of Sault Ste. Marie, but to limit the expense of shipping, a three-bin sorting system is used, which promotes recycling.

Residents play an important role in the Island's waste management system when they sort their waste into the appropriate bags and receptacles. Blue bags are used for garbage that will go to the landfill, clear or beige bags are for organic waste that can be mixed with horse manure and composted, and blue recycling tubs are used for glass and cans to be recycled.

The sorted waste is taken by dray to the city's Solid Waste Handling Facility off British Landing Road, and distributed from there.

"Sorting is very important, especially from landfill to compost," said Bruce Zimmerman, the DPW director.

Items in the clear or beige compost bags receive a final screening from employees at the facility, then the contents are shredded, watered down, and mixed with horse manure, hay, and straw. The mixture is then put into composting bays for 45 to 60 days, then into curing bays for further composting for six to nine months. The finished compost is then tested and sold for use as topsoil.

Recycled items include corrugated cardboard, magazines and brochures, glass (clear, brown, and green), plastic (#1 PET, #2 HDPE, and #2 natural), tin, and aluminum, which is sold to distributors in Michigan and Wisconsin. Food grade foam containers are also recycled, but the city does not receive money for it.

Cleanliness is a big issue, said Paul Wandrie, who manages the Solid Waste Handling Facility, and it is important to clean recyclable items before they are sent to the facility.

The cost to ship a 30-yard dumpster full of compacted landfill bags to Dafter is $1,100, he said, so the more people remove the recyclable materials from their blue bags, the less landfill material has to be shipped to the mainland.

From 1996 through 2005, close to 4,000 tons of trash have been recycled, and from 1994 through 2004, 7,172 cubic yards of compost were made and sold, enough to fill almost 30 dumpsters.

"We want to make sure that people are aware we have this [compost] program and that it is available to everyone," Mr. Wandrie said.

Finished compost can be purchased for $10 per cubic yard. During the off-season, it can be delivered by a DPW motorized vehicle, and during the summer season and year-around, it is delivered by the Mackinac Island Service Company for a fee.

Of the sorting system, he said, "this is a great program if we could get everyone into doing it."

Anyone is welcome to come to the Solid Waste Handling Facility and see the process firsthand, he added.

Bags can be purchased at the DPW office on the second floor of Community Hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays. Blue landfill bags can be purchased for $3 each, clear or beige compost bags can be purchased for $1.50 each, and blue recycling tubs are free for Island residents.

Recyclable materials

+ Magazines and catalogs All shiny papered magazines and catalogs are accepted; bundle them for easy handling. However, phone books, newspaper inserts, and junk mail are NOT accepted.

+ Foam products Food service materials such as meat trays, drink cups, plates, and egg cartons are accepted; rinse thoroughly. Insulation, peanuts, or packaging material are NOT accepted.

+ Corrugated cardboard Bundle cardboard and do NOT stick non-cardboard items inbetween. Asian cardboard, is accepted as long as it is corrugated, NOT single thickness.

+ Glass bottles and jars Clear, green, and brown bottles and jars ONLY. Rinse then out and remove cap and neck rings. Do NOT break them.

+ Tin cans Wash or rinse out cans so NO food remains. Place lids down in empty cans so they will NOT cut anyone.

+ Aluminum Wash or rinse all cans.

+ Plastics #1 PET and #2 HDPE are the only plastics accepted by DPW. Bottles such as pop, beer, juice, water, and other beverages constitute #1 PET plastics. Some personal care and cleaning products are also accepted. Bottles such as milk jugs, orange juice jugs, laundry detergent, bleach, and other narrow necked bottles are accepted and constitute #2 HDPE plastics. Butter tubs and other wide mouthed containers, even if they have a #2 on the bottom are NOT accepted by DPW.

+ Newspapers Newsprint is accepted, but no other paper. Bag or bundle so paper will not blow away.