Perfect Circle Recycling (PCR) is redefining what trash is in Michigan.
As one of only a handful of private companies helping businesses divert their waste from landfills, we partner with our customers to convert what most would consider garbage into more productive uses like renewable energy, compost, and fertilizer. We know exactly how much plastic, metal, cardboard, and organic material is derived from a single “diverted” product our customers send to us, and we have the relationships to find end uses for almost all materials we recover. This is the future of waste management, better described as “resource recovery,” and we’re proud to be at the forefront of the industry.
Over the past year, our company paid for a custom-developed database that enables us to track items arriving from our customers and then understand their potential end-uses. According to our data since 2020, PCR has processed over 6 million pounds of material that most companies considered “waste .” This includes nearly 2.5 million pounds of organic matter (that we were able to send to partner farms for feed), 158,000 lbs of plastic, and 213,800 lbs of cardboard. The products we received would have been sent to the landfill solely because of things like mislabelling, faulty truck refrigeration, or past sell-by dates. Instead, PCR coordinated this material’s conversion into renewable energy, animal nutrition, biofuel, and fertilizer. This is only a few years of data, yet a tremendous impact is already being facilitated.
Kent County, where Perfect Circle Recycling is based, has an ambitious target to divert 90% of waste from landfills by 2030. To accomplish this, the county is soliciting private sector partners to work together to reduce waste and find better end uses for the waste we can’t avoid.
We see ourselves as a key partner in Kent County’s waste diversion efforts. With 5×5 funding, we can provide our customers access to more granular diversion data–allowing them to see the impact of their diversion efforts. We’ll be the first recycling company in West Michigan to provide customers with the kind of detailed information they need to optimize their waste management practices and meet changing local and state targets.