Michigan ranks 14th best state for quality waste management

The state of Michigan isn’t a pile of garbage, according to a list released by lawnstarter.com

Michigan is the 14th best place to live in the country in terms of quality waste management. The list was compiled comparing 14 metrics across four categories to determine the best and worst states at managing waste. These metrics include the presence of plastic-bag bans, the presence of mandatory recycling laws and the number of recycling facilities per 100,000 residents.

The study was released ahead of America Recycles Day on Nov. 15. The flood of garbage grows larger every year, threatening to swamp cities, states and even the United States, according to the study.

According to the nonprofit Frontier Group, America produces more than 30% of the world’s waste but represents just 4% of the world’s population.

The coronavirus pandemic is creating new trash challenges around the world. For instance, more people working from home means more residential garbage, which puts stress on trash collectors.

Also, discarded masks and gloves are piling up in landfills. and many of these pieces of personal protective equipment, or PPE, are littering roads and parking lots across the country.

Michigan sat solidly in the rankings top quarter of states, but it didn’t appear in any of the top sub- categories or at the bottom of any categories. Michigan ranked 12th in state government measures ranks and 44th in resource management rank and 29th in reuse of goods.

The state government measures include points for presence of plastic bag bans; food waste disposal bans; presence of state beverage container deposit laws; electronic waste recycling programs; mandatory recycling laws; multifamily recycling policies; the share of households with residential food collection programs; and yard debris bans.

There was also assessment of resource management — daily water consumption and the share of electricity from renewable sources — and reuse of goods, as well as the number of recycling facilities and large waste facilities.

The top five ranking states include Vermont, Connecticut, California, Oregon, and New York. The bottom five states, according to the study, are Alaska, Nevada, New Mexico, Kentucky, and Alabama.

To find out more about the study, go to lawnstarter.com/ blog/studies/ best-worst- states-wastemanagement/