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New Food Scrap Drop-Off for Chicago Residents!
Looking to participate? Find details at Food Scrap Drop-Off.
New Backyard Compost Bin Giveaway for Residents!
Free bins are available! Find all the details at Backyard Composting Bin Giveaway.
Chicago Recycles
The City's residential Blue Cart program provides bi-weekly recycling services to single-family homes and multi-unit buildings with four or fewer units. Blue Carts are serviced by the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) along with the City’s recycling contractor. Check out the new story map to see the journey of your recyclables from the point of pick-up! You’ll see where the recyclables go to be sorted, the tonnage of recyclables collected, and the destinations for processing into new materials.
To see a full-screen version of the storymap click here.
Pumpkin Smash is a fun community event that keeps tons of pumpkins out of landfills and turns them into compost. Compost is loaded with recycled nutrients that can be used to build healthy soil, and diverting pumpkins from landfills helps prevent greenhouse gas emissions. Chicago Pumpkin Smash sites composted over 18 tons of pumpkins in 2022, and over 26 tons in 2023! Let’s smash this record in 2024! Find more details.
Through the 2021 City of Chicago Waste Strategy, a comprehensive waste and materials management plan, DSS is working to decrease waste disposal and associated negative environmental impacts; reduce costs and increase efficiency; maximize economic investment and workforce development opportunities; and address social and environmental justice inequities. Check out our Chicago Waste Progress Update and stay tuned to this site for new programs and opportunities!
One of the goals of Chicago’s Climate Action Plan is to increase resident awareness on recycling and sustainability through targeted and equitable education for Chicagoans. When residents commit to daily recycling, it brings the following BENEFITS to our city and our world.
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For more information on residential recycling, please also visit Recycle by City, the City’s recycling education partner. |