Recycling in Chicago

Recycling is one of the easiest things we can do to protect our environment. By recycling, we turn trash into reusable materials, we help create jobs in Illinois and we conserve natural resources. Most people think of the third R first, but if you Reduce and Reuse before you recycle, you’d use a lot less energy in total, because recycling is very energy intensive. In areas of Chicago with the Blue Cart program, the Department of Streets & Sanitation picks up recyclables and yard waste separate from the garbage.  Your office buildings should have a recycling program in place, as well.  If they don’t, alert your building management company.  Chapter 11-5 of the City code requires that all commercial properties offer tenants recycling for at least 2 items.  Click here to see the code or visit the City of Chicago website.  For more about Chicago recycling, check out Chicago Recycling Coalition, a non-profit organization run by volunteers who champion environmentally and fiscally sound waste management practices.

As of 2009, 241,000 households were using the Blue Cart program.  Unfortunately, the program was put on hold, due to budget reasons, in 2010, leaving 2/3 of the city’s households without the Blue Cart.

To some of you, recycling is second nature, but for the others, here are some ways to ensure that what you throw into the recycling bin has the best chance to get recycled:

• The easiest items to recycle are plastic, paper and glass
• Take the caps off of your bottles, rinse and flatten if possible
• Rinse and crush soda and beer cans
• Remove rubber bands and wrappers from paper products
• Most pizza boxes are recyclable, but the portions with food and grease stains on them, are NOT, so tear off the soiled sections and recycle the rest
• Construction paper, brightly colored “astro bright” papers, and greasy or waxed coated papers can ruin a batch of paper recycling; these must be thrown in the garbage instead along with toilet paper, tissues, tissue paper, and paper towels
• Remove the paper label from your cans and recycle as well

To see how your neighborhood recycling stats compare to other Chicago neighborhoods, check out Crains Market facts, by clicking HERE.

Materials that are accepted in the Chicago Blue Cart Program & Recycling Drop-off Centers:

• Glass jars and bottles
• Aluminum cans, foil and pie tins
• Tin or steel cans
• Cereal boxes, paper towel rolls
• Cardboard (flatten all boxes)
• Plastic bottles and containers (# 1-5, 7 accepted)
• Junk mail, magazines and catalogs
• Telephone books
• Paper bags
• Office paper and file folders
• Newspaper and inserts
• Beverage cartons (milk, juice, soy cartons)
• Beverage carrier stock: plastic rings and cardboard carrying cases
• Wrapping paper (no bows or ribbons, please)
• Paper greeting cards

Materials that are NOT accepted in the Blue Cart Program & Recycling Drop-off Centers and should be donated if reusable:

• Clothes and linens
• Plastic or metal hangers
• #6 Plastics (polystyrene or Styrofoam)
• Diapers or feminine products
• Construction debris (bricks, wood, cement, etc.)
• Paint or spray paint
• Unnumbered plastics (toothbrushes, toys, hoses, cereal box liners, etc.)
• Loose plastic shopping bags (bring those back to retailers for recycling)
• Hard, reusable plastic bottles (like Nalgene or baby bottles)

Chances are, once your recyclables get picked up, they go to what’s called MRF, or a Materials Recovery Facility, similar to the one shown in this video.

If the Blue Carts haven’t made it to your neighborhood yet, you can drop of your recyclables at any of the following City Recycling Centers.

To find an outlet for materials not accepted in the Blue Cart program, visit www.earth911.com to use their recycling finder. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/streets/provdrs/san/svcs/recycling.html

Recycling Batteries

Over 3 billion dry cell (AA, AAA., C, D, 9 volt) single use (dry cell) batteries are purchased in the United States every year to power things like flashlights, radios, kids toys, smoke detectors, hearing aids, watches and other house hold items. Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and nickel, which contaminate and pollute the environment if they are thrown out in the normal trash (solid waste stream).  The heavy metals leach into soil, groundwater or surface water causing havoc and making soil and water unsafe for growing food or drinking water, with no easy clean up options. By throwing batteries out, you very well may be poisoning your community. Dry cell batteries contribute about 88 percent of the total mercury and 50 percent of the cadmium in the municipal solid waste stream.* As you are cleaning out all of your electronic gadgets from last year and replacing them with the new ones from this year, (even if you are recycling or selling your used electronics on ebay), or donating your kids toys they have grown out of, or are putting an item in storage, remove the old batteries and recycle them. Keep a little plastic bucket handy so that you can dump them into it and bring to a recycling center near you when you are doing your normal errands. Find a recycling center near you:

• Single Use:  http://search.earth911.com/
• Rechargeable:  http://www.rbrc.org/consumer/index.php

Ways to save money and lower waste: Even though single use are recyclable, they are not 100% recycled. So, a lot of waste is still created by building batteries, selling them and putting them back into the recycle process. A few ways to save money and help the environment include:

• Try to buy hand operated or manual items that function without batteries.
• Consider rechargeable batteries, but remember that they also contain heavy metals such as nickel-cadmium. GreenBatteries.com is a great option. Buy a charger and batteries to save money and lower your impact vs. buying single use batteries from the store. The upfront cost is higher, but you will save a lot of money over time. And less trips to the store.

*Info provided by: http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/batteries.php



E-Waste

According the  Green Peace website, “electronic waste (e-waste) now makes up five percent of all municipal solid waste worldwide, nearly the same amount as all plastic packaging, but it is much more hazardous. Not only developed countries generate e-waste; Asia discards an estimated 12 million tons each year.  E-waste is now the fastest growing component of the municipal solid waste stream because people are upgrading their mobile phones, computers, televisions, audio equipment and printers more frequently than ever before.  Mobile phones and computers are causing the biggest problem because they are replaced most often.”  Think about it – every year there is a newer, better, slimmer, faster, sexier version of the cell phone you’re talking on or laptop you’re typing on. If you have old computers or electronics that are still functioning, you can try donating them to a school or putting your item on Freecyle, a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. If  you can’t dispose of your items by giving them away, you can take them to the City’s permanent Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling Facility.  Check their hours, as their only open a few days a week.  And for your used up printer cartridges or old cell phones, look no further than the post office.  In select Post Offices, customers can get free mail-back envelopes for recycling inkjet cartridges, cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and other small electronics. Find local recycling centers for many other materials at Earth911.com.

Rain Barrels

Another form of recycling and reusing is to collect rainwater.  Collecting rainwater for use during dry months in rain barrels or other depositories is an ancient and traditional practice. Historical records show that rainwater was collected in simple clay containers as far back as 2,000 years ago in Thailand, and throughout other areas of the world after that. With the rising price of municipal water and drought restrictions now facing much of the United States during the summer months, more and more homeowners in our own modern society are turning to the harvesting of rainwater to save money and protect this precious natural resource. http://www.rainbarrelguide.com/

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