City of Chicago Rolls Out Phase Two Of The 2013 Citywide Recycling Expansion
June 24, 2013
Approximately 61,000 Households Begin Receiving Blue Cart Recycling Services Today
The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation will roll out blue cart recycling services to approximately 61,000 households beginning today as part of the second phase of the 2013 citywide expansion, a key 2013 budget initiative for the Mayor.
“By offering Chicagoans better access to recycling services, we can make a greater impact on our environment by preserving natural resources, decreasing the amount of waste sent to landfills and reducing our carbon footprint,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “I am committed to ensuring every community can participate in the blue cart recycling program by the end of 2013.”
The blue cart recycling program provides bi-weekly recycling collection services to residents who live in single family homes, two-, three- and four-flat buildings. Once phase two is complete, approximately 450,000 households will have blue cart services. The department will roll out recycling services to the remaining 150,000 households by the fall of 2013.
The blue cart residential recycling program is a single stream recycling system in which all recyclable materials are collected and transported together. Recyclables are picked up and transported in designated recycling trucks to avoid contamination with regular garbage.
Materials are taken to a city-approved recycling center where they are sorted into separate materials, called commodities, then baled or packaged for delivery to manufacturers who reprocess or reuse the materials to make new products.
In October of 2011, Mayor Emanuel implemented a managed competition for recycling services in an effort to create efficiencies and reduce operational costs to taxpayers. In one year, the competition decreased recycling costs by $4.7 million and paved the way for the citywide recycling expansion.
Subsequent phases will be announced as collection schedules and routes are finalized. Chicago’s recycling service providers include the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, Sims Municipal Recycling, and Waste Management.
For more information about the blue cart recycling program, resident should call 311 or visit www.chicagorecycles.org.
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