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Bay Area Recycling reports higher volumes, twice-weekly pickups added in parts of Manistee County
Summary
Bay Area Recycling presented April 2026 totals showing increased material volumes and said Arcadia, Bear Lake and Maple Grove townships will move to twice-weekly bin pickups to handle the surge; outreach and grant work continues.
Karla Smith-Kasten, recycling coordinator for Bay Area Recycling for Charity, told the Manistee County Green Team on May 6 that the county's PA 69 program is seeing higher material volumes in 2026.
"Arcadia, Bear Lake Township, and Maple Grove Township will be getting the bins emptied twice per week to accommodate the increase in product," Smith-Kasten said while presenting the April program report. The appendix to the report lists monthly totals for 2026 that are higher than many prior years, with January 2026 shown at 70,520 tons (Appendix A summary) and other months reflecting elevated collection totals.
Smith-Kasten credited coordinated work with local partners, including the Manistee County Conservation District, which she said assisted with the county's recent tire-grant submission. Committee members discussed operational details in the appendix, which lists bin counts and pickup cadence by township (for example, Onekama: eight bins; Arcadia: five bins; Bear Lake: four bins).
Committee member Nikki Koons (arrived 2:13 p.m.) and Commissioner Eric Gustad heard the briefing; no formal action was taken. The update is intended to inform the county and township partners about service-level changes that townships and the servicing contractor will implement in response to increased volumes.
