Year ending December 2025

The numbers, including the bad ones.

Everything below is measured at the weighbridge, audited by an outside firm, and published whether it flatters us or not.

This report

Period: Jan–Dec 2025
Audited by: Ferndale & Coe
Method: Weighbridge
Published: 4 Feb 2026

The three that matter

Eleven thousand tons that didn't go in a hole.

11,240tons diverted from landfill

6,180items repaired, not replaced

3,400Detroit households taking part

Every figure

And how each one was arrived at.

11,240 tonsTotal diverted. Weighed at the Milwaukee Junction bridge on collection, cross-checked against processor receipts. Excludes anything we collected and then landfilled, which is counted separately below.Weighbridge

6,300 tonsGlass. Sent to two aggregate plants in Melvindale and River Rouge; receipts on file for every load.Processor receipt

2,100 tonsTextiles. 71% to insulation manufacture, 22% to wiping cloth, 7% resold as wearable through three Detroit thrift partners.Processor receipt

6,180 itemsRepaired at the Saturday cafe. Counted at the bench, one line per item, including the ones that failed — see the failure rate below.Bench log

3,400 householdsDistinct households using a drop-off site at least twice. Counted by voluntary ZIP code at sign-in, so this is an undercount and we do not know by how much.Estimate

140 businessesOn a commercial hauling agreement at year end. Nineteen more were audited and told we could not help them.Contract count

34 schoolsRan the full six-week unit. Four more started it and did not finish.Delivery log

What went wrong

Four things we would rather not print.

410 tons we collected and then landfilled

Contaminated textile loads, mostly from two commercial clients whose staff had not been retrained after a turnover. That is 3.5% of everything we took in, it cost us $9,400 in tipping fees, and it is the number we are most focused on this year.

Target for 2026: under 1.5%

Electronics repair rate fell

From 52% to 41%. Newer devices are glued rather than screwed, and we have not solved that.

Redford opened four months late

A lease we should have read more carefully. The site is open now and running below forecast.

We still cannot count reach

The 3,400 household figure is a voluntary sign-in and almost certainly low. We would rather say that than round it up.

The money

$1.42m in, $1.38m out.

Full statements are in the filed 990. This is the plain-English version of it.

Where it came from

41% commercial hauling fees, 28% city and county contracts, 19% foundation grants, 9% individual giving, 3% resale of recovered material. The commercial share has grown every year since 2022, which is deliberate — fee income is the part nobody can withdraw at short notice.

Where it went

62% staff, 21% haulage and fuel, 9% sites and utilities, 5% materials for the schools program, 3% administration and audit. Eleven full-time and nine part-time staff, plus about 140 regular volunteers.

What we hold

Four and a half months of operating reserve. We would like six, and we are not there.

Read it properly

The full report is 34 pages and we would rather you read it.

Including the auditor's letter, the 990, the processor receipts by load, and the bench log for every repair. If something in it does not add up, tell us and we will publish the correction.

Annual report (PDF) Question a number

Previous years

2024: 8,900 tons
2023: 6,150 tons
2022: 3,720 tons
2021: 1,480 tons