HOUGHTON — The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has announced Jan. 8 as the initiation date for the new Materials Management Plan. This will begin the MMP approval and development process, beginning with identifying the County Approval Agency through submitting a Notice of Intent, which is due by July 6.

Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region Regional Planner Lisa McKenzie told the Keweenaw County Board at its regular December 2023 meeting that EGLE planned to initiate the changes by the end of that year.

McKenzie thanked the Board for its support in WUPPDR’s efforts to receive a Materials Management County Engagement Grant about 18 months ago.

“Those grants gave us the opportunity to prepare for what we knew was going to be coming,” McKenzie said.

What is coming, she said is that each county in the state must create new MMPs as part of transitioning from outdated Solid Waste Management Plans. The goal of the transition is to further reduce materials entering landfills. This will be accomplished in a number of ways:

The goal is to reduce the amount of toxicity and unwanted materials produced; to reuse materials rather than replacing them; repurpose items that are no longer needed for their original use; recycle unwanted items to make new ones; and use discarded materials to create energy.

An informational webpage published by Waste Management says the EPA defines MMP as “an approach to using and reusing resources most efficiently and sustainably throughout their lifecycles while seeking to minimize materials used and all associated environmental impacts.”

This definition is general and can be applied by cities, counties and states, as well as public and private companies of all sizes.

Once the MMP is developed and the services are established, the key to success is participation. It is critical to develop and implement educational and training programs for employees and new hires.