MPPS

Comparing Attitudes toward Recycling Programs and Issues among Michigan Residents and Local Government Officials

November 2024

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This report presents the opinions of Michigan residents in communities across the state of Michigan from Spring 2023 regarding a variety of issues related to recycling programs and policies. It also, where possible, compares them to the views of Michigan’s local government leaders from a Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) in Fall 2021.

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Key findings

Most Michigan residents statewide have positive views on recycling and agree that
recycling programs are beneficial in a variety of ways.
- A significant majority of both Michigan residents and local officials believe that recycling can help decrease local pollution and litter and protect clean water, and a slight majority also believe it can address global climate change. Positive sentiments regarding the effects of recycling are found all across partisan lines.
- Two-thirds (66%-68%) of residents and local officials agree that recycling is worth the effort given the large impact it has.
Nearly half (47%) of Michigan residents wish they had more recycling options than they currently feel they do, while another 36% say they are satisfied with the current amount of recycling services they receive.
- Among local officials, 59% believe their residents are satisfied with local recycling.
- There are only slight differences in satisfaction among residents along the rural-
  urban spectrum. However, there are significant differences in local government leaders’ perceptions, with just under half (49%) of rural local officials saying their residents are satisfied with their current recycling compared with 85% of officials in urban communities.
Statewide, 79% of residents say they have access to one or more types of recycling. Half (53%) report access to curbside recycling at their primary residence, 40% have residential yard waste collection, and 39% have access to a drop-off recycling site.
- Meanwhile, 15% say they have no recycling services available through their primary residence, and 6% are unsure what services are available to them.
- Participation in curbside recycling is highest in Southeast Michigan, while participation in drop-off recycling is most common in the Northern Lower Peninsula. Participation in household hazardous waste collection and household electronic equipment collection are most common in the Upper Peninsula.
About half (48%) of Michigan residents say they recycle all (25%) or most (23%) of the time, 18% say they have access to recycling but participate rarely (10%) or never (8%).
- Residents in rural (29%) and urban (23%) communities are more likely to say they rarely or never participate in the available recycling programs compared with residents of suburban communities (16%), and small towns or villages (18%). Residents in the Northern Lower Peninsula are more likely to say they rarely or never participate (30%) than in other regions of the state.
Only 40% of residents say they would drive more than 10 minutes to a recycling drop-off facility. Meanwhile, 10% would only drive up to 5 minutes to use a drop-off recycling site, while 11% would not drive any distance for recycling.
Responses regarding food waste programs were very positive. Currently, 16% of residents say they currently have access to such a program, and 14% say they have used one in the last 12 months. Among those who do not currently have or use a food waste recycling service, 57% say they would be somewhat or very likely to participate in food waste reduction or food composting programs, if it were available to them.
- People who currently say they recycle most or all of the time are much more likely to say they would participate. Yet, even among those who rarely or never use available recycling services, 40% say they are somewhat or very likely to use a food waste recycling program.
Almost half of Michigan residents would prefer to receive information about recycling programs (from their community or recycling service provider) through emails (48%) and letters and flyers via postal mail (47%). Another quarter would like to receive information through websites (25%) and social media (24%). Texting (16%), apps for mobile devices (13%), and notes stuck on recycling containers (10%) are the least popular forms of communication on recycling issues.
When it comes to options for funding recycling, the highest levels of support are for funding by the companies that produce and/or package products that produce waste (56%) and through trash disposal fees (53%).
- When asked to pick their single most preferred option, 33% prefer funding by companies that produce or package the products. Fewer prefer paying through taxes on residents (22%), trash disposal fees (18%), or recycling service fees (13%).
Michigan residents generally have positive perspectives on the state’s bottle return recycling program. Statewide, 70% would like the bottle deposit program to be expanded to include additional container types, such as water bottles, and 41% would like to be able to return bottles and cans curbside rather than take them back to the store.
When residents were asked what recycling services they don’t currently have available but would like to have access to, 33% expressed interest in having access to recycling collection for hard-to-recycle or bulky items, and 19-23% want food waste collection, household hazardous waste recycling, and household electronic equipment recycling.
- Local government leaders’ perceptions of what new or expanded services their residents want are generally similar.
More broadly, almost two-thirds of Michigan residents (63%) and local government leaders (64%) say that promoting sustainability is an important aspect of local government leadership.