Over the years, Michigan has promoted itself as the Great Lakes State and Michigan Wonderland.
But in some circles it's also known as "landfill-friendly" and "trash friendly."
After years of decline, Canada's dirty diapers, coffee grounds and banana peels are once again being trucked to Michigan in a major way, reports Keith Matheny of the Detroit Free Press, who writes that Michigan's abundant landfills and low fees make it a preferred destination for trash from other states and other countries.
"Michigan has made its regulations as landfill-friendly and trash-friendly as any state in the country," says Mike Garfield, executive director of The Ecology Center, an Ann Arbor-based environmental nonprofit.
The amount of Canadian solid waste imported to Michigan jumped 19 percent from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2017, the Freep reports.