Illinois state government has launched two recycling and sustainability initiatives it hopes will boost economic development and job creation. The model includes a training program and recycling database.
The Professional Certification Program in Sustainable Resource Management was developed by Dr. Bert Jacobson, dean for environmental and institutional sustainability at Kankakee Community College, and the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) to update the industry’s approach to waste management.
Mike Mitchell, executive director for Illinois Recycling Association (IRA) says, “The old waste management model is 75 percent disposal and 25 percent recycling/composting. Through our certification program, we are re-training professionals to see what we used to call waste as valuable resources that can be reused. This new resource management model flips these numbers, calling for at least 75 percent recycling/composting and only 25 percent disposal. This dramatically alters the landscape of how discards are handled. As more resources are reclaimed and recycled, we need more people to sort, process, clean, remanufacture and resell recycled materials. This creates more American jobs at the local level as the industry expands.”
According to a press release, the certification program will be offered at community colleges around the state beginning in 2012 and applies to current industry professionals as well as to those interested in starting a new career in the recycling and sustainability field.
Wynne Coplea, manager of waste & recycling, city of Springfield, says, “What we used to think of as garbage must now be considered a resource stream, organics, raw resources, re-usable and repairable stuff along with traditional recyclables account for about 90 percent of what we now unceremoniously dump. We are not only dumping resources, we are dumping jobs. This is unacceptable in today’s more enlightened society and depressed economy.”
The IRA also has announced a statewide recycling database, called EcoPoint Illinois, which is designed to provide a centralized information center about local and statewide recycling opportunities. Local government, and public and private sector recyclers can post where residents can recycle items from computers to cans. According to the IRA, residents can find the closest locations to their homes and print out directions to the drop-off sites.
EcoPoint Illinois can be accessed through the IRA’s website. The subscription to this new service was funded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) through a grant to the IRA.
The launch of the database also included the kick-off of an ongoing initiative by the IRA to encourage greater participation in the program so the database will eventually include information from every recycler in the state.
Recycling rates for Illinois indicate the percentage of solid waste that is recycled or composted. The Illinois Solid Waste Management Act requires each county to develop a plan to recycle 25 percent of municipal solid waste, but there is no statewide mandate for recycling rates. According to the 2009 Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Nonhazardous Solid Waste Management and Landfill Capacity report, the state has reached a recycling rate of 37 percent.
Paul Jaquet, IRA board president, says, “While this puts Illinois above the 2009 national recycling rate of 33.8 percent, it is far below what we could be doing to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. The recycling rate goals for Illinois haven’t been revised since 1988. People look at 37 percent recycling statewide and think that this is great, but we are far behind states like California where the recycling rate is over 50 percent. Actually, we should be recycling and composting at least 75 percent – 90 percent of the solid waste we generate.”
More information can be found at www.illinoisrecycles.org or at www.igencc.org.
