Recycling in Chicago

by Rachel Koertner

Recycling is a paradox - it is illustrious, but is still widely ignored. Many people see the startling statistics and yet they live in blissful ignorance, not wanting to put in the work to recycle or learn how to do it correctly. Society is aware that there are countless benefits to recycling, both environmentally and financially, but recycling rates in many places continue to drop. There are Chicagoans who advocate for going green in so many ways, and yet the city has an exponentially lower recycling rate than most places in the world.

A survey done by the Better Government Association (BGA) found that Chicago’s recycling rate is by far the lowest of any major metropolitan area in the country. In 2018, Chicago was reported to have a rate of nine percent, which may not sound terrible, but in comparison, the second-lowest city was Houston with a recycling rate of 17 percent. Compared to San Jose, with a rate of 80 percent is one of the nation’s highest, Chicago is extremely behind. Therefore, one must ask - what sets Chicago so far back? Why are the city’s rates so low? Should its citizens care, and how does it affect them? What can Chicagoans do to combat this low recycling rate?

Many resources give advice on how to encourage more people to recycle, and there are three big ideas that are consistently mentioned: educating people on the impact of recycling in their cities, teaching them how to recycle, and organizations finding structural solutions. These all have the potential to make an impact, and even dramatically increase Chicago’s recycling rates, if implemented.

THE IMPACT OF RECYCLING IN OUR CITY

The first in that list, and the one closest to home, is educating people on the impact of recycling in Chicago. You may think that the sea turtles are the only ones benefiting from people recycling, but actually each community benefits the more they recycle, and this happens in many ways. A community’s commitment to a cleaner environment is often considered a reflection of its commitment to a higher quality of living. Recycling attracts companies that process recyclables as well as suppliers who reuse these materials in their products, which means more businesses and more jobs. A study done by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pointed out that recycling industries not only offer higher paying jobs than the national average, but they also prevent communities from sending valuable items to their landfills.

Also in the EPA study, it was reported that in 2007, the city of Kinston, North Carolina, was able to save $100,000 in fuel and labor costs by implementing a new and improved recycling program, which shows that recycling can save communities an exponential amount of money. The study said that many people fail to recognize the increasing impact recycling will have on the economic health of their region.

Another way that recycling benefits communities is by creating sustainability. Cities like Atlanta, Georgia, are turning to smart growth strategies to manage expected population growth, which are based on principles of sustainability. Then of course, at the core of sustainability is recycling. Recycling improves air quality, and reduces certain emissions that are associated with chronic health issues like asthma. According to the CDC, indoor and outdoor pollution are responsible for nearly five percent of diseases. Therefore, recycling can lower the chances for these diseases and health issues.

These are many ways that recycling benefits more than just the sea creatures in the heart-wrenching commercials - it benefits each and every community member. However, Chicago is missing out on so many of these benefits because of low recycling rates. Some say that one reason this is happening is because of contamination stickers. Often times, if one item in a recycling bin isn’t recyclable, Waste Management has to label the bin as contaminated, and nothing in it will be recycled. But BGA research calculated that if the contents of contaminated bins are flowing to Waste Management’s landfill at the same rate as city garbage is, then nearly 5,000 tons of recyclables have been diverted to the company’s dump. This means that countless items that could be recycled aren’t.The high instances of contaminated bins is greatly affecting the low recycling rates.

Also according to the BGA, Chicago is the only major city that gives private haulers sole discretion to decide which recycling is taken to landfills. Many other cities use only municipal collection crews, fine residents for repeated contaminations, and give people a second chance to have the contents of suspect recycling bins re-evaluated before the bins are hauled off to dumps. The study goes into detail about more of the efforts from other cities, and how they have different policies, which contribute to them having significantly higher recycling rates.

Recycle Across America says that, without exception, having higher recycling rates is the top action society can take to simultaneously improve the environment, the economy and sustainable manufacturing, as well as prevent waste from going into oceans. This is true for the world as a whole, but also for each specific community, benefitting each citizen. To eliminate confusion and to stop recyclable products from being taken to the landfills, it is imperative to educate people on what is recyclable. The website recyclebycity.com/chicago/guide describes some of the guidelines of recycling in Chicago. For example, it is important to rinse, wipe or scrape out food and drain out liquids, and to recycle items loosely in the Blue Cart (Chicago’s recycling system), without a bag. Things like containers, glass bottles and jars, metal cans, paper, and cardboard can be recycled, while things like plastic bags, plastic wrap, food and liquid, and scrap metal cannot be recycled in the Blue Carts. It is crucial to avoid things like garbage, electronics and tanglers (like hoses, cords and chains), otherwise the cart could be labeled as contaminated. These are the recycling rules specific to Chicago’s Blue Cart program.

LEARNING HOW TO DO IT

This leads to the importance of educating people on how to recycle, and clearing up any confusion that may exist. This is another tactic to increase recycling rates. The rules stated above are the basic guidelines for the Blue Cart program. However, they do leave some gray areas that can get confusing. For example, the paper cups meant for hot coffee are not supposed to be recycled, but the paper sleeves and the plastic tops can be. The tops and empty cups for iced coffee can be recycled, but the straw should go in the trash. This is a good example of how things can get a little tricky. However, there are lots of resources to go to for help, and many websites that try to clear things up.

A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT CHICAGO’S SYSTEM, CLEARED UP BY NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO:

• It is important to screw caps onto bottles and jars before putting those items into the recycling bin, even if the caps are made out of different materials.

• Pizza cardboard boxes can be very valuable recycled items if residents recycle them properly. That means removing all food and the grease-catching circular liner. This just leaves the clean outer box, which is perfectly recyclable even with a few small grease stains.

• Junk mail can be recycled, and the plastic window does not need to be removed.

• Bonus: The city of Chicago operates two recycling centers, one in the South Loop and another in Rogers Park. The private recycler, Resource Center, also operates a facility in the parking lot of North Park Village, right off of Pulaski Road, and another in Woodlawn.

These rules don’t cover every question that a person might have, but there are countless online resources to go to for help. For example, Recycle Across America, or Recycle By City. Also, Blue Cart questions, comments and service requests can be addressed by calling 311.

The Blue Cart system isn’t the end-all for recycling in Chicago - there are more resources that are often overlooked. For example, there are safe ways to dispose of leftover items, like dropping off rechargeable batteries at Staples or Lowe's. Also, there are a wide variety of ways that textiles can be recycled. Old clothes, torn rags, even ratty underwear - all of it can be recycled instead of being sent to a landfill.

According to Ecowatch and Earth 911, the fashion industry is the second dirtiest industry in the world, second only to big oil. The scale of the issue is immense - 150 million tons of clothing is sold worldwide every year, the majority of which ends up in landfills. The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) reports that nearly 85 percent of textile waste ends up being tossed in the trash. This is another example of huge amounts of materials ending up in landfills that shouldn't. There are many organizations that are working to combat this by hosting textile recycling centers.

The NERC explains the material recycling process very clearly. For example, when clothes are recycled to a charity or a for-profit textile collection business, the first thing they do is sort through the items and grade them. The best clothing items, shoes, washcloths, etc. are typically resold through thrift shops in the US. Clothing that is wearable - but might be missing a few buttons or have some other minor flaws - is typically sold in bulk and winds up being used in overseas markets. Then, the unwearable items, like rags, towels, used underwear and so on are further separated. Some items are cut up and resold to industrial markets as wiping rags. Other material is sold off to be shredded and used to make insulation, stuffing for cushions and stuffed animals, carpet padding, soundproofing pieces in the automotive industry and other similar objects.

In addition, these materials can have many secondary uses - in fact, many products used today were once old clothes or shoes. They can be used to make sports fields and athletic tracks, pillow stuffing, softball and baseball filling, paper money, home insulation, and fuel bricks. Using the products in these secondary items saves material from landfills.

Textile recycling happens in a variety of ways in Chicago. There is Chicago Textile Recycling (CTR), which diverts over two and a half million pounds of waste from area landfills annually. People can clean their products and place them in the CTR bins around the city. Simple Recycling is a similar organization and that has pick-up options for textile

recycling, just like the normal garbage that gets picked up once a week. Those services are in Skokie, Schaumberg, Hanover Park and more.

Additionally, Donate Stuff is a business that serves the Chicago area by collecting items that need to be donated and taking them to their respective charities. They pick up donations of things like clothing, curtains, towels, toys, appliances, office chairs, musical instruments, coffee makers and so much more. Donate Stuff makes sure these items get to a place where they can be used, instead of to a landfill.

Along those lines, Blue Jeans Go Green has partnered with a multitude of stores to set up drop-off sites for jeans to be donated. These include Garage, Levi’s, Madewell, Wrangler and more. In addition, many of these businesses incentivize the recycling. For example, a customer can drop off their denim at a Garage location and get $10 off a pair of fullprice Garage jeans; or, they could receive 20 percent off a single item for bringing denim in for recycling at a Levi’s. Many other stores like these have found ways to incentivize recycling and prevent reusable objects from being placed in landfills.

These objects, like jeans, are perfectly reusable, or at least can be broken down and remade into other products to be used. However, many people aren’t aware of all the possibilities and resources. There’s a range of recycling opportunities throughout Chicago, and education about those opportunities is imperative to increase the low recycling rates.

ORGANIZATIONS FINDING STRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS

These recycling options wouldn’t be possible without organizations creating structural solutions. This is a powerful way to combat low recycling rates - businesses implementing policies to make recycling possible and to encourage it, like the jeans stores.

For example, BGA reports on a campaign done by Waste Management in 2014 called Recycle Often, Recycle Right. Its goal was to educate community members on how and why to increase recycling, as well as to address the confusion on what’s recyclable and what’s not. It makes a difference when businesses use their sphere of influence to encourage environmental change. One organization in Chicago that is working to do that, which might surprise some people, is the Shedd Aquarium.

“Shedd’s mission is to inspire curiosity, compassion and conservation for the aquatic animal world, and our vision is a world thriving with aquatic life, sustained by people who love, understand and protect it,” said Gabby Petrelli, the Conservation Action Coordinator at Shedd Aquarium. “The health of our oceans, rivers and lakes is vital to the health of our entire planet, and by working to conserve these places, we can protect biodiversity and ensure a sustainable future for all.”

The organization is doing its part and helping the community in a variety of ways, and one of the most impactful ways is leading by example. Shedd is constantly working on shifting away from disposable plastics and advocating for reusable or compostable items. They have started using more readily recyclable packaging like aluminum, reusable plates and silverware in their restaurant, they offer all packaged beverages in glass bottles or cans and they no longer provide plastic bags in their gift shops.

“We lead by example at Shedd Aquarium by having a robust recycling and composting program that has allowed us to shift to compostable or aluminum food packaging in our cafes, leading to an 80 percent waste diversion rate from landfills,” Petrelli said.

Beyond all of these methods, the aquarium also works hard to reach out to the community. One way they do this is by educating the public through providing programming and information on how to make sustainable lifestyle changes. Plus, they are advocating for the Plastic Free Water Ordinance in Chicago, which will not only help shift business practices away from using and providing singleuse plastics, but also help educate the public about proper recycling practices.

Trash collects in Lake Michigan

Shedd Aquarium

“Our public outreach programs help build skills and confidence in the public for leading more sustainable lifestyles, and share ways we can raise our voice to local, state and federal policymakers to encourage them to act on the issue,” Petrelli said.

Additionally, representatives from the aquarium attend events like environmental expos, farmers markets and other community events to talk to people about the problem with plastic pollution and share their advice for sustainable changes. They have also worked with over 300 businesses to help them switch from single-use plastic straws to paper and compostable options. They have two sets of restaurant collaborators: Sustainable Seafood collaborators and Shedd the Straw collaborators. As a part of these programs, restaurants have opportunities to host events with Shedd and educate their patrons on these important issues. All of these businesses work with Shedd to learn about how to be kinder to their environment in many ways, including recycling.

“Conservation has long been a priority for the aquarium,” Petrelli said. “It is part of our mission, as we aim to spark compassion, curiosity and conservation for the aquatic animal world. We’ve been conducting field conservation research for more than 20 years and rescuing animals for more than 50. The aquarium has grown over time, and developing conservation programs has been a natural fit for an organization dedicated to animal care and welfare.”

This care for conservation isn’t stopping any time soon, as the Aquarium already has special campaigns set up for April, like their #EarthMonthIn digital campaign. Then, when they’re able, their teams will take advantage of the warmer weather to engage community members in wildlife conservation and stewardship activities.

“It takes all of us to safeguard species and preserve biodiversity,” Petrelli said. “We are in constant need of volunteers and citizen scientists to join us in our action, stewardship and research programs. Check out Shedd’s website for ways to get involved.”

This organization is a perfect example of a business in Chicago fighting for local conservation and recycling. However, Shedd isn’t the only organization in Chicago doing this. Another example is Mariano’s, which has an extensive recycling program, and accepts many nontraditional items in addition to having normal recycling bins. For example, plastic bags cannot be placed into traditional recycling carts in Chicago, but Mariano’s will take the bags for recycling. They also take things like food storage bags, plastic overwrap, case stretch wrap, plastic cereal-box liners, shipping materials and more - all things that would’ve otherwise ended up in a landfill. This program has been successful, as they recycled 52.2 million pounds of plastic in 2018. Therefore, this is an example of a business creating change in the community by instituting structural solutions.

In addition to businesses, city government can make a big difference. In the beginning of 2019, when Lori Lightfoot was still campaigning to be mayor, she released a nine-point policy proposal to address environmental issues. This proposal included bringing back the city’s Department of Environment, as well as improving “Chicago’s abysmal recycling rates by holding City waste contractors accountable.” There are no current updates on whether or not the policy was implemented upon her election, or if the policy was successful, but even just the conversations about the importance of these issues can make an impact on a community.

These structural solutions, as well as the resources for education on how to recycle and how it affects individual communities - they all give hope that Chicago’s recycling rate can be improved. Recycling doesn’t have to be a paradox, and Chicago doesn’t have to be exponentially behind other cities. Instead, all community members can get involved, and these ways are just the beginning.