I thought I knew all about Chicago’s city recycling program, but I learned some new things about it today.
In the “blue bin” program, homeowners use a separate blue city recycling bin for paper, glass, metal, and recyclable plastics.
Previously, Chicagoans would throw out recyclables in special blue bags to distinguish them from trash. The blue bins don’t accept plastic bags at all. What gives? According to a local DNAinfo.com site, the problem is that loose plastic bags jam the machines the recyclers use for sorting.
I had been rinsing my recyclables and collecting them in brown paper grocery bags that I would bring to the blue bin when full. It turns out that was the wrong thing to do. Bagged items within the blue bins slow down the recycling process and cost the program money.
Starting January 1st, Chicago’s departments of Streets and Sanitation will stop accepting bagged items from blue bins. Chicagoans can still collect recyclables in paper shopping bag, but they will need to empty their paper bags into the blue bins and add the bags as standalone recyclable items.
As for loose plastic bags, many chain supermarkets have drop-off bins for plastic bag recycling, and some dry cleaners will recycle their dry-cleaning bags for you.
This is all part of raising awareness, educating consumers and moving forward so we can still do our part to help the earth.
S3 wishes everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year!