Detroit – A new project backed by the Michigan Strategic Fund will divert millions of tons of Metro Detroit waste from area landfills and put more than 200 people to work.
Green Box NA, a Wisconsin-based company that specializes in using 100 percent of reclaimed materials for new purposes, will set up shop near the Interstate 94 and Interstate 75 interchange in the city.
With the help of $125 million in tax-exempt bond financing from the Strategic Fund, the company plans to take in massive amounts of food-service waste from restaurants around the region and recycle them into commercial products.
The $200 million project will have the Detroit facility working in tandem with another Green Box operation in Cheboygan. Materials such as cups, lids, straws, plastic bottles and even napkins will be collected locally and converted into bails and pellets. Those materials will then be shipped to Wisconsin to be transformed into paper products like facial tissues and napkins, as well as biofuels.
“We actually like working with all big cities, but Detroit has some very good incentives,”