• How can I get a tote?
• Do I have to pay for curbside collection service?
• What day of the week is my neighborhood served?
• What time do I need to have my tote out for collection?
• With the holiday, when will my recyclables be picked up?
• What materials will be collected curbside?
• What if my recyclables won't all fit in the green tote?
• What areas have curbside collection service?
• Are apartments and condominiums included?
• Are businesses included?
• How do I set out my recyclables?
• Will it help if I separate the different kinds of paper?
• Will it help if I separate my plastic, glass, and metal containers?
• Who do I call if I have questions or concerns?
• Are the drop sites still available?
• How is the service paid for?
• Who operates the service?

The following communities provide curbside collection of recyclables to most* of their residents:
Bear Creek Township
Harbor Springs
Little Traverse Township
Petoskey
Resort Township
*Exceptions may include roads not accessible to our trucks and private roads or associations which don't allow large trucks. Also, see the section below on apartments, condos, and businesses for exceptions in some communities.

Curbside collection was also offered to West Traverse, Littlefield, and Springvale townships, and the village of Alanson, however they chose not to participate at this time. Curbside collection is not being offered in the less densely populated areas of the county because long drives between homes would make the service inefficient and expensive.

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Are apartments and condominiums included?

Generally individual apartments buildings or houses with just a few apartments are included, but larger buildings or complexes are not. The one exception is Resort Township, which is providing the service to all households and businesses. Call Emmet County Recycling at 348-0640 for the details for your community.

Larger buildings or complexes are invited to contract directly with Emmet County Recycling to provide the service. The cost is $36 per year per household. Some complexes with private drives may not be fully accessible to our trucks. In this case it may be possible to set up mini recycling drop-sites with 96-gallon carts for each material. The cost is $106 per year per cart. For more information call Emmet County Recycling at 348-0640.

Condominiums are being handled similarly. Associations interested in participating can call Emmet County Recycling at 348-0640.

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What day of the week is my neighborhood served?

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What materials are collected curbside?
In the Tote
If there's not enough room in the tote for your cans, foil, bottles, jugs, and jars, you are welcome to use additional plastic bins or buckets as long as each is no larger than the green tote.

NO aerosol cans or propane tanks

#1 and #2 Plastic Bottles, Jugs, and Jars

Look on the bottom of the bottle, jug or jar for one of these symbols.

Will it help if I separate the different kinds of paper?

Yes! Many Emmet County residents are in the habit of keeping office paper items separate from "newspaper plus"--newspapers, magazines/catalogs and books -- and cardboard in a third container. It will help our sort crew at the Recycling Center if you continue to do this with curbside collection (using separate brown paper bags for each), as they'll be able to separate the materials more effectively and efficiently.

So why aren't we requiring everyone to do this? We are gradually moving toward what's called a "two-stream system": participants simply sort their recyclables into 1)"fibers"-- paper and cardboard - and 2) "containers" -- plastic, mental, and glass containers. The mixed materials are then sorted by a combination of mechanical and hand sorting at the materials recovery facility (MRF). A two stream system is our goal because experience in numerous communities has shown that when recycling is made this simple, significantly higher volumes of materials are collected. The benefits of collecting more material outweigh the increased sorting costs at the MRF. Implementing a two-stream system wasn't an option in the past because the volumes we collected weren't large enough to support investing in the mechanical sorting equipment, but we expect to reach the point where this may be possible in the near future.

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Will it help if I separate my plastic, glass, and metal containers?

Yes! Many Emmet County residents are in the habit of keeping plastic, metal, clear glass, green glass, and brown glass separate for recycling. It will help the curbside drivers if you continue to do this, saving them time as they sort the containers into separate compartments on the truck.

So why aren't we requiring everyone to do this? We are gradually moving toward what's called a "two-stream system": participants simply sort their recyclables into 1) "fibers" which includes your paper and cardboard and 2) "containers" which includes your plastic, metal, and glass containers. The mixed materials are then sorted by a combination of mechanical and hand sorting at the materials recovery facility (MRF). A two stream system is our goal because experience in numerous communities has shown that when recycling is made this simple, significantly higher volumes of materials are collected. The benefits of collecting more material outweigh the increased sorting costs at the MRF. Implementing a two-stream system wasn't an option in the past because the volumes we collected weren't large enough to support investing in the mechanical sorting equipment, but we expect to reach the point where this may be possible in the near future.

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With the holiday, when will my recyclables be picked up?

When a holiday falls on a weekday, curbside collection of recyclables will be one day later than usual for the remainder of the week, with Friday customers served on Saturday.

This will always be the case with Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. It will apply to New Year's Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day in years when they fall on a weekday.

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