Office Materials

DTE Energy has maintained a paper recycling program for decades. In 2008, we recycled 1,019,630 pounds of office paper, and 442,613 lbs of cardboard.

Paper recycling conserves renewable and nonrenewable resources, prevents pollution and is good for the environment. We began a company-wide paper savings initiative in early 2009, and expect our recycling rates to actually drop as we use less paper to begin with.

We also collect and recycle alkaline batteries, computer equipment and light bulbs. The recent addition of plastic bottle recycling has proven very popular with employees. 42 separate locations – nearly all manned operations in the state -- now recycle these common office materials.

Industrial Recycling

We are also focusing on recycling from an industrial perspective. Our recent efforts to embrace this commitment include:

• Finding a new use for the old bricks from the lining of the stack at our River Rouge Power Plant. The power plant replaced the lining of its stack in 2006 and, instead of disposing of 1.5 million pounds of bricks, we used them to create a base for the coal pile.
• Recycling more than 55 million pounds of concrete created by two demolition projects in 2006.

Investment Recovery

We collect and sell more than 17 million pounds of scrap metal each year, thanks to the efforts of our Investment Recovery organization. Breaking down and salvaging old materials is part of Investment Recovery’s core mission. From telephones to transformers, this group finds new life for old materials, reducing the amount of plastics and contaminants that would otherwise be headed for landfills. The amount of equipment and products we recycle or reuse increases yearly.