Michigan’s recycling rate climbed to a new high again in 2025 but continues to remain below the national rate, according to new data from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
The state’s recycling rate is 26% so far in fiscal year 2026, which started in October. It was 25% in 2025 and just 14.25% in 2019, EGLE said.
The national recycling rate is 32%, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported last year. In 2020, then-EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler set the U.S. recycling goal at 50%.
The recycling rate is calculated by comparing the amount of material sent to municipal composting and recycling centers compared to the overall amount of material disposed of, EGLE Materials Management Division Recycling Specialist Emily Freeman said.
The rate does not include non-recyclable material that is sent to a recycling facility but ultimately trashed, which can happen if people put the wrong items in their recycling bins. Many municipal recycling facilities don’t process loose plastic bags, for example.
EGLE started making annual recycling rate announcements in 2023, each year promoting the state’s new all-time high recycling rate but still acknowledging Michigan falls behind the national average.
Lawmakers rewrote Michigan’s solid waste law in 2022 to promote recycling by expanding access and requiring counties to rewrite their materials management plans to promote reusing material over landfilling it. They aimed for a 30% statewide recycling rate by 2029.
Michigan Recycling Coalition Executive Director Kerrin O’Brien praised the state’s slow and steady recycling progress, but said the cost of running recycling programs is challenging for local governments who are pressured not to raise costs for residents. Even at a cost, recycling programs offset the price of building, using and maintaining landfills, she said.
“There’s a shift we’re making and it takes a long time to make that shift,” O’Brien said.
Millions of Michigan residents now have more access to recycling, EGLE Director Phil Roos said in a press release this week.
“State investment, community action, communication, and collaboration are driving progress across Michigan’s local recycling systems,” Roos said.
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Recycling is on the rise in Michigan, but not by much
Reporting by Carol Thompson, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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