The Kent County Recycling & Education Center at 977 Wealthy St. SW will reopen on March 16 following scheduled equipment upgrades. The recycling drop-off locations in Grand Rapids and Rockford will also reopen on March 16.
Scheduled upgrades have been completed as originally scheduled and equipment has successfully been tested. During the upgrades the facility was closed and unable to accept recyclable materials from both curbside and drop-off locations.
“There were eleven different contractors on site over the last three weeks doing everything from changing conveyor belts and pulleys to installing ten-ton pieces of equipment,” said Nic VanderVinne, Resource Recovery & Recycling Manager for the Kent County Department of PublicWorks. “All the work went very smoothly, and we expect to see improvements to the quality of the recyclables that are sent to market as well as a significant reduction in downtime due to maintenance.”
The Kent County Recycling & Education Center is approaching its 10th year of single-stream recycling. Over the past decade, the center has undergone periodic maintenance and upgrades to adapt to changes in community recycling habits and packaging trends. In 2017, Kent County added equipment to accept paper cartons and improve automation.
