LANSING — Bottles, newspaper and cereal boxes are all items experts say Michigan residents are more than willing to recycle, but for many the key question is how.

Nancy Hawkins, executive director of the Michigan Recycling Coalition, said the main reason most people don’t recycle is because access to recycling drop-off spots or curbside pick up is not readily available.

 “One thing that absolutely works with recycling is that people believe in it, but a lot of people will only do it if it convenient,” she said.

Drop-off recycling sites and curbside service are available to only half the state population, a deficiency that discourages many people from recycling, said Matt Flechter, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recycling coordinator. 

In 2002, the recycling rate in Michigan was 20 percent, short of a 26 percent average for other Great Lakes states, according to the Michigan Recycling Coalition.

As a nation, the United States is recycling 32 percent of its waste, said Flechter, who serves as the chair of the Mid American Council of Recycling officials, a 14-state council.

“It’s interesting looking at the difference among states,” he said. “We have Minnesota with a 43 percent recycling rate next door.”

Yet the obstacles other states face to increase recycling rates differ from Michigan’s, Flechter said.

“Their challenges are making sure that people know about the programs and educating them,” he said. “In Michigan, it’s that we need access.”

Funding is one main factor why recycling programs are unable to expand at the state level, Flechter said.

At present, responsibility for recycling falls to the local level, either by government or recycling organizations, Hawkins said.

Grand Rapids offers curbside pickup upon request with no cost to the resident, said Barbara Small, administrative services officer for the city’s Street and Sanitation Department.

The program, funded by property taxes, serves nearly 28,000 residents and has 10 to 15 people sign up for it daily, Small said.

Offering it for free encourages people to recycle, she said.

“I live out of the city and would have to pay for it,” Small said. “As far as the City of Grand Rapids’ accessibility, there is no out-of-pocket charge,”

The city brings the recyclable materials collected to the Kent County Recycling facility where it is all hand-sorted and sold to vendors.

The facility recycles about 15,000 tons of material a year, said Dennis Kmiecik, director of operations of the Kent County Department of Public Works.

“With what we sell we can maintain our facilities,” Kmiecik said, adding there funding is through the county landfill.

The facility is open to both public and private recycling collectors, as well anyone who wants to drop off recyclable materials.

The amount of materials coming in has been constant over the past several years, he said, adding that it does not deal with commercial recycling.

“It hasn’t grown, it’s stayed steady,” Kmiecik said. “To get people to recycle it has to be easy and affordable.”

Kmiecik said he would like to see the state make recycling mandatory.

 “I know everyone says money at the state level is tight, but Michigan doesn’t seem to be a state at the forefront to push recycling,” he said.

A bill to establish a statewide coordinating officer to facilitate program expansion passed by the Legislature, but Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed it because it lacked a funding plan, Hawkins said.

The measure was reintroduced by Sen. Patricia Birkholz, R-Saugatuck Township and now is in the Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee.

“Even though there is a person who coordinates statewide recycling, there is no certainty that it will continue to be staffed without a formal place of statute,” said Bob Wilson, a policy adviser to Birkhotz.

 “We’ve put that office in the DEQ budget for several years, and what Pattie was trying to do was formally establish that office within statute so we didn’t have to keep coming back and making sure that it was there in the budget,” Wilson said.

Flechter said it’s crucial that Michigan sets aside funding for recycling for the rates to expand.

“There isn’t anything on a statewide level to insure there is service for Michigan residents,” he said.