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Chicago area launches campaign to improve recycling rates, tackle confusion

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Published  November 13, 2024 5:01pm CST
Chicago
FOX 32 Chicago

Chicago area launches campaign to improve recycling rates, tackle confusion

There’s a new push to boost recycling rates across the Chicago area. But there’s also a lot of new confusion about what can be recycled and what must be thrown away.

The Brief

    • New campaign aims to boost recycling rates across Chicago with federal grant support.
    • Confusion over what items are recyclable remains a challenge.
    • Goal is to increase recycling rates to 50% across the Chicago area.

CHICAGO - There’s a new push to boost recycling rates across the Chicago area. But there’s also a lot of new confusion about what can be recycled and what must be thrown away.

Soon, a public service campaign will roll out across Chicago and its suburbs encouraging people to recycle more and recycle better.

The announcement of a federal EPA grant was made at the LRS Material Recovery Facility in Chicago’s Stockyards District, where every day over 500 tons of refuse is recycled. That diverts 1,000,000 pounds from local landfills.

"I think it’s important for obvious reasons," said Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, who is also chairman of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. "Everyone can do something to make the world a little more sustainable. Recycling is pretty dog on easy."

It may be easy, but over the last 15 years, recycling rates across the Chicago area have remained flat. Roughly 27% of what we throw out gets recycled, 36% if you include yard waste.

"I look in recycling bins and I see a lot of contamination," said Kane County Recycling Coordinator Claire Ryan. "I’ll actually reach in the trashcan and pull bottles and cans out and put them in recycling."

On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a $2 million recycling education grant awarded to the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which includes 275 communities across the Chicago area. The federal grant will go to fund a public education campaign so that people are better informed as to what they can recycle and what must be thrown out.

"I’m hoping that by this time next year, if you look on billboards, on the side of the bus, maybe the bus stop, even movie theaters, you will get information about recycling," said Ryan.

And while recycling technology is improving, many companies are stamping their products as recyclable when they’re not.

"There is a lot of confusion about what can (and) what can’t be recycled," said Burns.

The group's goal is to get recycling rates across the Chicago area up to 50%, which officials say would divert tens of millions of tons of garbage from local landfills.