What is Materials Management?
Materials Management encompasses a sustainable materials management approach that includes:
- Reduce: Lower the amount and toxicity of unwanted materials produced;
- Reuse: Use materials again and again instead of buying new;
- Repurpose: Upcycle items no longer needed for their original purpose;
- Recycle: Use unwanted materials to make new products;
- Recover: Use discarded materials to create energy; and
- Landfill: Last resort.
Materials management planning is a program designed to replace County Solid Waste Plans, with an emphasis on increasing sustainable practices, such as recycling and composting, in addition to ensuring safe disposal options. These materials can include food waste, yard clippings, recyclables, other source separated materials, and solid waste. The new law in Part 115, effective March 29, 2023, establishes statewide recycling goals and standards, and materials management plans (MMPs) will identify an implementation strategy to meet those goals.
Michigan’s updated law sets statewide targets for improving materials recovery — aiming to recycle at least 30% of municipal solid waste by 2029 and 45% by 2035 – up from 25% in 2024. The long-term goal is to divert nearly half of all materials away from landfills through recycling, composting, and other recovery strategies.
To help meet these targets, new “Benchmark Recycling Standards” require counties to ensure convenient recycling access – including curbside collection for most households by 2028 and sufficient drop-off locations by 2032.
For more information on the new materials management planning process, please visit EGLE’s Materials Management Planning website.
SEMCOG Support of Materials Management Planning
At request of the seven counties in the Southeast Michigan region – Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne Counties – SEMCOG will be supporting the counties in their Materials Management Planning efforts.
Monthly Materials Management Planning Work Group
SEMCOG facilitates a monthly work group for the materials management planning staff at each of the counties to share best practices, discuss strategies, and coordinate across agencies. This monthly facilitation and collaboration effort will continue throughout the Materials Management Planning (MMP) process. As the MMP process continues and evolves over the required 3-year planning horizon, these meetings may change frequency to quarterly or as-needed.
Materials Management Planning Committees Support
SEMCOG participates in monthly meetings at counties’ Materials Management Planning Committees (MMPC), serving as a regional representative. These meetings aim to support counties as they develop their MMP plans. Each SEMCOG Environment and Infrastructure staff member is assigned to one or more counties to assist in creating their MMP as part of their Materials Management Planning Committee.
- St. Clair + Monroe + Oakland: Bailee Pasienza
- Washtenaw + Livingston: Lindsey Kerkez
- Macomb: Katie Grantham
- Wayne: Tyler Klifman
Elected Officials Education Campaign
Supporting elected officials is key to building long-term understanding and commitment to each county’s Materials Management Plan (MMP) and meeting new state requirements. To assist counties, SEMCOG will collaborate with county representatives and the regional MMP Work Group to craft key messages, coordinate video interviews, and develop communication materials that help inform and engage local leaders.
Through the three-year Elected Officials Outreach Campaign, SEMCOG will provide ongoing resources and opportunities for engagement, including:
- Printed and digital outreach materials for local use
- A series of short educational videos shared online throughout the planning process
- Interactive webinars to support learning and discussion
- An in-person workshop to connect and exchange ideas across counties
Materials Management County Engagement Grant
In 2022, EGLE created the Michigan Materials Management County Engagement Grant (MMCE) to provide funding to counties to help the transition from solid waste management to a holistic materials management approach. SEMCOG, in partnership with the counties, developed the following report to summarize the work completed through the Materials Management County Engagement (MMCE) Grant. Acting as the Designated Planning Agency for Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties, SEMCOG led the completion of various MMCE grant tasks, which are detailed in this report. Supporting materials are included in the appendices or provided as direct links. To learn more, read the full report below.
The Interactive Materials Management dashboard, below, was created for use in materials management planning in the region and is included in the final report.
