According to Sun Times City Hall reporter, Fran Spielman and a recent article that was published, Chicago officials may be looking to privatize recycling and several Aldermen say that they’ve been informed that the Streets and Sanitation Department are already working on the plan.  This news comes after Alderman Tom Allen purposed an order to City Council on June 7, that would revitalize the Blue Cart Program.

I’m fortunate to live in an area of Ukrainian Village that has the blue carts, and awhile back, I did some calling around, because I was interested to know where all of our recycling went once the city picked it up.  First I called 311 and no one there could tell me where the recycling goes, so I called the 1st Ward Streets and Sanitation office, where I spoke with Brenda, who also couldn’t really tell me anything about the recycling, except for that it gets taken somewhere in the 32nd ward.  It wasn’t until I spoke with Pedro at the 32nd Ward Streets and Sanitation office that I learned that the sorting of the recycling is outsourced to Allied Waste.  Another article published recently by The Chicago Reader, confirms this information, stating that, “privatizing the blue cart program really only means that private firms would provide the carts and pick up the recyclables. The rest is already in private hands.”  I’ve left a few messages for Allied Waste’s Recycling Manager, Kevin Cruz, but haven’t heard back.  I suspect he’s quite busy, especially these days.

So, what does Alderman Tom Allen think of this talk of privatization?  When asked by the Sun Times, he said, “Garbage pickup is an important function of city government. If we hand that off to private entities, we lose a certain amount of control. If they miss a pick-up, a resident’s first call goes to the aldermen. We have a pretty good track record. I wouldn’t want to mess that up.”

Whether or not the city moves forward with the privatization, we can still let city officials know that recycling pickup is a must for all Chicago dwellings.  How can we let them know?  Join Mike Nowak and the Chicago Recycling Coaltion in a letter writing campaign and let your Alderman, the Department of Environment and the Mayor’s office know you support Tom Allen’s order to complete the blue cart implementation.

One Response to “Talk of Privatizing Chicago Recycling”

1. Josiah Russell says:

   June 30, 2010 at 12:03 pm

   Recycling is very very important in order to preserve mother earth.;;`