First month’s recycling results encouraging

By Zoey Hallam

The first month’s results are in for Laketown Township’s Rolling Cart Recycling Pilot Program, and the early numbers are encouraging.

During the month of June, the 75 households participating in the pilot diverted 1.4 tons (2,800 pounds) of recyclable material from the landfill.

For comparison, Laketown Township collected 315.18 tons of recyclables in 2025 from approximately 2,400 households, which equates to an average of about 263 pounds of recyclables per household annually. Based on the first month of pilot data, participating households are currently recycling at a rate that projects to approximately 70 percent more material per household than the township’s existing yellow bag recycling system.

While these figures represent only the first month of the pilot and participation levels may fluctuate over time, the initial results suggest that rolling carts may encourage increased recycling participation and material recovery.

The township will continue to monitor participation levels and recycling yields throughout the pilot period. At the conclusion of the pilot, participating residents will be asked to complete a survey to provide feedback on their experience, and those results will be shared with the community.

We appreciate the residents who volunteered to participate and look forward to sharing additional findings as more data becomes available.

Thank you to everyone helping Laketown explore new opportunities to reduce waste, increase recycling, and support a cleaner community!

Zoey Hallam is Laketown Township Deputy Clerk. She can be reached at (616) 335-3050 or zoey@laketowntwp.org.