Remember when your trash container was a large giant plastic bin, while a small recycling tote sat next to it? According to numbers and trends at northern Michigan’s largest waste company, locals will soon experience the opposite.

American Waste Co-President Eddie Ascione tells The Ticker recycling is on the rise. “We see a larger volume in recycling than in waste. We believe in the near future, residents will have smaller trash totes along with the larger recycle totes. This is basically the reverse from five years ago,” he says.

Last year the company recycled more than 32,000 tons (64 million pounds) of material. “That is nearly 30 semi-truck loads of baled products per week,” says Ascione (the most recycled item: paper/cardboard, which accounts for 85 percent).

The Kalkaska-based company, which employs 450 individuals in Michigan and Pennsylvania, was awarded the contract to become Traverse City’s sole waste hauler in 2011 (the contract was recently renewed). The company also has contracts with several area townships, including East Bay and Peninsula, where American Waste is either the preferred or sole hauler. In addition to the curbside collection in Traverse City, the company’s recycling efforts include all or parts of Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Otsego, and Wexford Counties.

The company began recycling materials in 2006, but really ramped up its efforts a few years later, investing more than $8 million in an advanced sorting facility on Hughes Road. “Our facility was one of the first single stream sorting systems in the Midwest when constructed in 2011,” says Ascione. The process combines mechanical and hand-sorting methods that can sort 8 tons per hour. Once materials are collected, they go through a series of sorting belts. The process uses screens, magnets, and optical and shaking equipment to identify and separate items by size, shape, weight and density.

“Over the next 24 months, we anticipate investing another $2 million in upgrades to the material recovery facility. This will include additional baling equipment, along with next generation screening and optical sorting devices to increase the volume of paper and plastic products the company processes,” says Ascione.

A big increase in the amount of recycled materials came when American Waste introduced the larger 96-gallon recycle bin option five years ago, replacing the 13-gallon totes. “It’s a more convenient way to collect it,” says Ascione. He says the bins with lids – green for recycling, blue for waste – are also cleaner than the smaller, open containers.

There are still some who abuse the system, discarding trash and recyclable material in the same bins. “We take the bad with the good. All in all, the Grand Traverse region does a phenomenal job,” Ascione says.

Once the material is sorted and bailed, American Waste sells it off to processing facilities across the Midwest. Ascione says the company tries to keep things in-state as much as possible, both to keep costs down and to minimize its carbon footprint.

“Nearly 30 semi-truck loads of baled products per week are shipped out of the facility for beneficial reuse and recycling,” he notes. He says it is likely that you’ll use your materials again, particularly plastics, without realizing it. “In Michigan, there’s a very good chance something you’ve recycled is in your car,” he says.