Recycling

From GreenWiki

Recycling information for Chicago

The Chicago recycling coalition

Blue cart recycling Is the new bin program starting in the 47th ward in late July 2007.

The Blue Bag Recycling program is the city of Chicago's main recycling program used by most wards.

Want to do better than the Blue Bag? Here's information on Alternative Recycling

[edit] Critique of Recycling in Chicago

[Chicago Reader: The Awful Truth About Recycling in Chicago]

"According to city data compiled by the Chicago Recycling Coalition, last year less than 9 percent of the trash Streets and Sanitation crews picked up was recycled. The figure could have been 30 percent if the city took recycling seriously."

"most Chicagoans can’t even participate in the Blue Bag program. Over three quarters of the city’s trash is generated by large residential buildings, offices, stores, restaurants, and other nonindustrial businesses, none of which are served by city garbage crews. The city does require the owners of these buildings to develop recycling plans with the private waste haulers that pick up their garbage, but few do—and the city almost never checks. "