Recycling Guide for Chicagoans

Now that all Chicago households with city trash service have recycling blue carts, the challenge is to get more people to use them, and use them properly. And that's exactly what the city and its partner company Waste Management are focused on going forward. 

Americans generate 251 million tons of waste each year, which is 30% of the world's trash, yet the U.S. only makes up 5% of the world's population. As the Total Recycling Program Manager for Waste Management, who used to work for the Department of Environment, Meghann Maves knows all about our garbage. 

"We have too much trash," she said. "Our goal is to get more recycling in the U.S."

At a recent recycling talk, Maves shared a graphic description of our trash with what she called a "scary landfill photo." Illinois puts its trash in landfills, she said, but it's an old model and hard to get new sites approved for zoning.

"Garbage lasagna" is the idea, starting with clay and gravel at the bottom and trash layered up from there. The problem is, it doesn't stay layered, she said, and we end up with mountains of trash. So we need to find ways to reduce the trash - and the increasing costs associated with it - by recycling more materials. 

Recycling starts with education; people need to know what CAN be recycled. To get this message across, the city is now using photo based signs, such as the one at the right. 

Single-Stream recycling means all recyclables go in the same (blue) carts: steel, tin and aluminum; plastic bottles and containers (except styrofoam); paper, cardboard, dairy and juice box-type containers; glass bottles and jars.

The key is to put items in the right bin - trash or recycling - and avoid contamination. The drier, the better, but even wet paper is recycled (for packaging). "If it tears, we'll take it," Maves said, so coffee cups are NOT recyclable.

Diapers are the biggest issue, and go in the trash. Also for the trash bin: food waste, plastic bags, foam cups, food containers including greasy pizza boxes, and chemicals, oils and paints. Aluminum foil is fine to recycle if not too soiled. Food-grade glass is okay too, but if it has a lot of liquid in it, it's best to put it in the trash to keep recycleables clean. Styrofoam is a big No No - and "if it squeaks and cracks, it cannot be recycled." 

Electronics cannot go in landfills as of Jan. 2012, per Illinois' Electronic Waste Recycling Act. The law requires product manufacturers take back used electronics to safely recycle them. For most items, Best Buy is your best bet. Abt in the Chicago suburbs also recycles items, including appliances. ComEd has recycling programs for fridges and freezers. 

Plastic bags will soon be outlawed in Chicago, Meghann said, and retailers will be required to take them back and recycle them. The bags get caught in the sorting lines and are dangerous, and of course they are unsafe for wildlife and unattractive in the environment as well.

After trucks pick up blue carts, they head to a "Material Reclamation Facility," or "MRF," where 'man and machines' sort the moving lines of material. If it's clean, the items are sorted, baled and recycled. But as I mentioned in my last post, we're only at a 14% recycling rate now.

The city's Household Hazardous Waste site at Goose Island (1150 N. North Branch St.) - accepts many items not allowed in blue carts or landfills. The full list is on their site and check the hours of operation before you drive over to drop off: antifreeze, expired medications, motor oil/gasoline, oil-based paints, aerosol paints, pesticides, propane tanks, lead batteries, lawn chemicals, solvents, drain cleaner, cleaning products, pool and other chemicals, mercury CFL and flourescent lightbulbs, computers, cell phones and accessories, household electronics, TV's and rechargeable batteries.

Lightbulbs - regular CFL's - can be dropped off at Home Depot stores and should not be put in landfills or recycle bins. The recycle spots should be in front of the stores, Meghann said.

Compostable bags decompose in air but in landfills they breakdown at about the same rate as regular plastic bags, Meghann said, so this is not quite a solution to the plastic bag issue.

Plastic bottles: lightly crush and put caps on so they're easily pulled from sorting line and recycled. Cat litter buckets are recyclable. Aseptic boxes (chicken broth or almond milk cartons) are lined with aluminum and recyclable; rinse them out to avoid contaminating other recyclables.  Heavily soiled or greasy items should go in the trash for the same reason. 

A few 'source reduction tips' from Meghann:

* Foam: Avoid retailers and restaurants that use styrofoam containers (they can't be recycled and contaminate other materials).

* Plastic bags: Carry reusable bags and keep them in your car or on your bike.

* Paper (coffee) cups: Bring your own mug or have a cup at home.

* Hazardous chemicals: Find other options - for things like pesticides, aerosols, etc. (and put aerosol cans in trash as they are a fire hazard). 

* Compost food waste. Waste Management is starting a test program with some restaurants to try to build a market for compost. Backyard composting is also encouraged by the city to keep materials out of landfills. See Urban Worm Girl. 

Ald. Pawar's office created a handy Recycling Guide with details about where and how to recycle everything from batteries to yard waste. You can also call the Recycling Hot Line at: (312) 744-5702 if you have questions about certain materials.

Let's reduce that mountain of trash and see if we can't reach the 25% recycling rate the city said is a good 'base line'. Maybe we can do it