At a press conference on Nov. 13, Kane County Board member Mavis Bates discusses why plastic bags should NOT go in curbside recycling bins, but they can be recycled at store dropoff sites. Elected officials, county and solid waste agency employees discussed what items can and cannot be recycled in curbside bins. The event took place in the bale room at LRS Exchange Materials Recovery Facility in Chicago, where bales of aluminum cans, plastic containers, and other recyclable items can be seen in the background.

CHICAGO (Nov. 13, 2024) – On Wednesday, EPA joined the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus for an event at the LRS Exchange Materials Recovery Facility to announce a $2 million grant to support the Chicago Metro Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) campaign, which aims to increase the collection of recyclable materials and decrease contamination of the recycling stream in hundreds of communities in northeastern Illinois. The Chicago Metro REO Campaign brings together the expertise of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC), the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO), DuPage, Kane, Will, and McHenry Counties and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to work together to achieve shared waste diversion goals and support the National Recycling Goal of 50% by 2030, as set forth by EPA. The grant was made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided the largest EPA investment in recycling in more than 30 years.

“Through community engagement and outreach efforts, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus will expand recycling communications programs in the greater Chicago area and move us towards national recycling goals,” said Alfred Saucedo, Chief of Staff for EPA Region 5. “This grant will help get everyone excited about recycling.”

“The Chicago Metro REO Campaign demonstrates our region’s strongly collaborative culture among our member local governments, counties and partners to address the common environmental challenges. Working together, we leverage our strengths and create greater opportunities for residents of the region to join to conserve resources by recycling effectively,” said Geneva, Illinois, Mayor Kevin Burns, chairman of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Executive Board and Environment and Energy Committee.

City of Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, Chairman of the Caucus Executive Board and Environment and Energy Committee, speaks about the Chicago Metro REO Campaign at the project kickoff on Nov. 13.

In recent years, communities with long-established recycling programs across the Chicago metro region have seen residential diversion rates stall in the 30-35% range. While this is on par with the national average rate of 32.1% reported by EPA in 2018, it is not sufficient to meet either the EPA’s national recycling goal of 50% by 2030 or the Metro counties’ individual waste diversion goals. Solid waste management plans for the participating counties all identify contamination in the recycling stream as a significant problem that increases the cost of recycling, which is borne by municipalities and residents.

“Through effective education and outreach, our Chicago Metro REO campaign aims to reduce contamination in the recycling stream, which can improve the marketability of recyclable material and support a sustainable, circular economy,” said Christina Seibert, executive director of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC). 

The Chicago Metro REO Campaign will begin with a baseline study of recycling rates in municipalities in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties and aims to boost per-capita recycling tonnage by 15%. The campaign will conduct an inclusive education and outreach campaign to reach diverse and disadvantaged communities. The goals of the campaign are:

  • Get residents of the Metro region excited about recycling again!
  • Educate residents to increase recycling and reduce contamination at the community level.
  • Improve the quality of materials placed into the recycling stream throughout the region, resulting in a less contaminated, more marketable stream of recyclables.
  • Encourage residents and businesses to “buy recycled,” to seek out products made from recycled material or packaged in post-consumer recycled content.

This grant was funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a historic investment in the health, equity, and resilience of American communities, providing unprecedented funding to support local waste management infrastructure and recycling programs as well as improved public education and outreach. For more information, EPA has a fact sheet (pdf) on how BIL funding is transforming U.S. recycling and waste management.

About the EPA

For more information on Recycling Education and Outreach grants, visit EPA’s website.

Follow EPA Region 5 on X and visit its Facebook page. For more information about EPA Region 5, visit its website.

About the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus

For more information on the Chicago Metro Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) Campaign, go to our project webpage.

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is a membership organization of the Chicago region’s 275 cities, towns and villages. Founded in 1997, the Caucus pushes past geographical boundaries and local interests to work on public policy issues. The organization provides a forum for metropolitan Chicago’s chief elected officials to collaborate on common problems and work toward a common goal of improving the quality of life for the millions of people who call the region home. For more information, visit www.mayorscaucus.org, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

News Coverage of the Event

To view Fox 32 Chicago footage from our event and see a glimpse of LRS’ impressive Exchange Materials Recovery Facility, go to: https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1547485