File photo Maggie Connor deposits cardboard into a recycling bin in Alpena

ALPENA — Northeast Michigan Materials Management Authority (NMMMA) Executive Director, Bailey Barr, told The News on Thursday that the authority is still working to finalize its total project cost for the new materials recovery facility (MRF).

Barr said that the authority hopes to have the new MRF built and operational by early 2027, several delays have forced the projected opening date back from July of this year.

NMMMA received only one bid and awarded the project to Devere Industrial, LLC for $3.9 million. This bid added an additional $500,000 to $700,000 to the original cost estimate NMMMA had earlier in the project.

Barr said that the authority and Devere are working to lower the final project cost to $3.2 million.

He added that the authority cannot sell any bonds until that amount is lowered and finalized. NMMMA also cannot sell bonds to cover the cost of equipment before finalizing the building cost.

The Alpena County Board of Commissioner voted to support the sale of bonds by NMMMA by offering its full faith and credit last March.

At the NMMMA board meeting in September, The News reported that the authority awarded a Request for Proposal (RFP) to MachineX, a materials management equipment company based in Quebec, Canada. The total bid, which accounted for tariffs, equalled $2.1 million.

Barr told The News that the new MRF is an important addition to Northeast Michigan because it will add jobs to the community and fulfill the state’s recycling requirements coming in 2030.

“The facility will bring multiple job openings and we will act as the Northeast Michigan recycling hub,” he said. “By 2030, there will be hard requirements by each county … it will be key for Northeast Michigan.”

Barr explained that in 2030, the state will require every county to provide recycling services to residents. Counties in Northeast Michigan will all take their recycling materials to the NMMMA MRF. If the MRF is not built in Northeast Michigan, Barr said that counties would likely have to ship their recycling to Emmett County.

“There’d be so much hauling expense to bring it across the state,” Barr stated.

OTHER RECYCLING UPDATES

A potential partnership with a company from Petoskey to offer curbside, recycling pickup has unfortunately been put to the side, according to Barr.

“He’s going to pause any kind of curbside in Alpena,” Barr said. “The logistics for him being in Petoskey didn’t pan out.”

However, Barr added that the authority recently purchased a trailer to offer cardboard pick-up for a $50 fee. He said the service is mostly directed to businesses.

Barr also stated that NMMMA’s partnership with Amrize continues to be “overwhelmingly successful.” Amrize currently receives glass recycling from NMMMA which is crushed and used as a silica substitute in cement.

“They want the material and say ‘We need more of it,'” Barr added.

He said that Amirze currently has purchased two glass recycling bins from the authority and plans to purchase a third and potentially a fourth.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.