Recycling for Newaygo County
“…enhancing the environment and beauty of Newaygo County.”
Printed on recycled paper.
Written and edited by Jessica DeKryger, Executive Director .
Issue 36- Fall 2013
From the Director’s desk………
As of October 1, 2013 Recycling for Newaygo County began its new fiscal year. Reflecting
back on the 2012-2013 year RNC had a deficit of over $35,000 in sales of recycled material. This
deficit is due to the fluctuation of recycling commodity prices. This market remains very volatile.
Currently RNC generates revenue on the sales of #1-#2 plastics, Paper, Metal and Cardboard. Film
(grocery), #3-#7 plastics, Styrofoam, glass, electronics and batteries do not generate any revenue;
matter of fact, they cost RNC money to process. As we look ahead into the future of our program, our
goal is to continue working on the strategic planning process and to work towards becoming more
self-sustaining. In order to do this, we will be focusing on increasing the collection of recyclables with
higher commodity pricing. As of the summer in 2013, the RNC board of directors voted to limit the
collection of glass to the Fremont Collection Center. As of our latest October board meeting, the
board of directors voted to limit collection of Styrofoam recycling. As of late-November, Styrofoam
recycling will be available at the Fremont Collection Center only. It will no longer be available at our
satellite sites. Transportation of trailers at our satellite sites is a large expense. We need to ensure
that the materials collected in these trailers will generate revenue to help offset the cost of hauling
and processing them. The revenue generated from our top commodities, still does not cover all of the
processing costs. For example, our paper pricing has been at $55/ton for the past six months. This
means that RNC is making $55 dollars per every 2000 pounds of paper that is collected at the sites.
This does not include the baling and handling of the material. Dart Container out of Mason, Michigan
handles our Styrofoam recycling. They visit our site two times per month and transport less than 1000
pounds of material, in a trailer designed to haul 40,000 pounds. It could be that our “carbon footprint”
of recycling items such as glass and Styrofoam is greater than the savings gained. RNC currently
collects the following non-valuable items at our Fremont Collection Center: Styrofoam, Glass, #3-#7
plastics, Film (grocery), electronics and batteries.
The RNC board of director’s is currently working on the process of strategic planning. One of the
first initiatives is to find out the needs and desires of our current members, as well as estimating how
many individuals and businesses are using our facilities. Currently, we have 618 members; however, we
know that we are serving far more. We are currently working on a survey to send out to both current
members and to non-members. We would like to offer these surveys at each site and are looking for
volunteers to help distribute these surveys. We are aiming towards distributing these surveys during the
spring of 2014. Please see additional information below regarding the surveys and strategic planning.
Lastly, have a wonderful holiday season! As we head towards the end of the 2013 year, keep in
mind that all donations to RNC are tax deductible. Our program depends on the support of our members
and current users. Please help us continue to offer recycling services to the residents of Newaygo
county. We truly appreciate it!
Cheers!
-Jessica DeKryger- director
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Recycling Update….New At-Work Trailer
Paper / #1 plastic/ #2
Plastic
Before Pictures (Current At-Work Trailer)
Plastic & Metal
After Pictures (New At-Work Trailer)
Thank you to an anonymous donor, we received $14,600 to purchase a new “At-Work”
recycling trailer. This trailer visits many local businesses in Fremont during the week. These
businesses pay a minimal fee to provide recycling services for their business and employees. Many
of the employees do not have curbside recycling service at their residence. This program allows
employees to bring their recyclables to work with them. Our current trailer is in disrepair. The new
trailer will not only be user-friendly for its customers, but it will also provide professional looking
advertisment for our recycling program.
Strategic Planning….Membership Survey
In order to determine the future direction of our recycling program, the RNC board of directors
has recently begun the process of strategic planning. Throughout this process we will focus on areas
such as: vision, mission, values and strategy. To kick-off our strategic planning, we have created a
task force to begin creating a user survey for both our current members and non-members. This will
be a great way to find out demographic data as well as learning more about the needs of our users.
An electronic survey will be emailed to the current members this winter. During the spring, volunteers
will hand out surveys on site. Volunteers will be needed to help with this process. Please feel free to
contact RNC if you would be willing to help with this: 231- 924-5822. We would greatly appreciate
your help!
RNC Volunteers- Grant 4-H Livestock
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RNC would like to recognize the Grant Livestock 4H Club for their service to RNC. The club
has generously taken the time to stop by our Grant site periodically throughout the summer to give it
a “thorough cleaning”! We all appreciate your efforts!
The Grant Livestock 4H Club is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. There are currently 30
members from ages 4 – 18yrs. The 4H Club meets throughout the year to learn more about animal
science, have a Spring Science Fair, perform community service and work on their animal projects.
Each year, members put forth a lot of time and effort to raise animals to show at the annual Newaygo
County 4H Fair along with other various science, crafts and art that they proudly enter at the fair. The
club leader, Dale Grabill, is also celebrating his 30th year volunteering as a 4H leader.
Did you know?
1. Buying Holiday Gifts –We often buy and use items that are made with recycled content. These
items perform equally well to their counterparts made from virgin materials. Many items that
include recycled content will have a “recycled” label on the packaging. You can certainly
purchase gifts locally that include postconsumer content. I have been able to purchase toys for
my children, glassware and home décor made with recycled content.
News You Can Use . . .
1. RNC Fremont Collection Center Hours of Operation – In order to keep our site clean and to better
serve our customers, the 24/7 drop-off and inside center will closed on all major holidays.
2. Wrapping paper & gift bags- Please keep in mind as the holiday season approaches RNC does
not accept wrapping paper or gift bags. Some wrapping paper brands may portray a recycling
symbol on them. It may be recyclable; however, RNC cannot handle such materials at this time.
Rather than using wrapping paper, try to reuse other types of paper or reuse your gift bags. Cloth
gift bags work well also. You could also use a reusable shopping bag as a gift bag.
Volunteers & Thanks
Thank you to Murray Lumber building a new set of site platforms. Many of our site platforms
are in need of repair. Unfortunately, we do not have the funds to replace all of the site plat forms at
one time. We plan to monitor the platforms and replace them as needed. Please let us know if you
see a platform that is in need of repair. Please be careful at our sites during the winter months. We
salt the platforms as best as we can; however, they may be slippery. Please watch your step while
using our trailers.
Collection Report: 2013 YTD
In 2005, our first year of operation, we collected 105 tons of materials. In 2012 we collected 1249 tons. More people are
recycling more materials every year!
Material Shipped
Paper (newspaper mags/junk
mail, and cardboard )
Weight
737 tons
Revenue: 2013
$51,135.90
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Plastics
(#3-7 plastics & Film are collected
and shipped but have no value.
137 tons
$13,596.81
Glass
Metal – tin cans and aluminum
104 tons
41 tons
RNC Expense
$1679.53
Polystyrene (Styrofoam)
Batteries & Electronics
Totals for 2013 YTD
8 tons
26 tons
1053 tons
none
none
$66,412.24
RECYCLING SAVINGS SINCE DAY ONE: DECEMBER 6, 2004
Paper – 5521 tons of paper, saving 93,856
Trees and 38 million gallons of water.
Plastic - 799 tons of plastics, saving over 3405 barrels of oil.
Glass - 715 tons of glass, saving over 859 tons of sand, soda ash and limestone.
Metal - 442 tons of metal - saving over 888 tons of iron ore, coal and limestone.
Misc. – Batteries & Electronics & Polystyrene – 163 tons
TOTAL WASTE KEPT OUT OF THE LANDFILL: 7640TONS!
RNC Board of Directors
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& Monthly Board Meetings
RNC regular board meetings are held the third Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm.
Meetings are held at the Newaygo County MSU Extension Office in Fremont on Stewart
Avenue at the County Fairgrounds. Our next meeting will be January 16, 2014.
The public is welcome to attend any of our monthly meetings. If you have any questions
or would like to learn more about our program, you are welcome to attend
Note: If you would like to change how you receive this newsletter, e.g., from mail to
electronic email or vice versa, please let us know and we will make the change.
Send your questions, comments, and suggestions to me, Jessica DeKryger, at
[email protected] or 924-5822.
Current Board of Directors: Rod Kroll (President), Kathy Morrison (Vice President), Linda
Blais (Treasurer), Dave White (Secretary), Maryann Tazelaar, Bill Bowen, Marcia Dougan,
Ailene Pugno, and Jean Teets
Office Address: 817 S. Stewart Ave., Fremont
Phone: 924-5822
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.recyclingfornewaygocounty.org
Director: Jessica DeKryger
Fremont Center: 113 E. Cherry St.
Monday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Wednesday 4:00 -6:00 pm
Thursday 4:00 – 7:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 1:00 pm
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