Chicago Nears Completion of Citywide Recycling Program Expansion

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced that its citywide blue cart recycling program is in the final week of cart delivery, which will complete the citywide recycling program expansion to more than 600,000 Chicago households.

“With the final phase of the blue cart recycling expansion, Chicago is no longer the tale of two cities when it comes to recycling,” says Emanuel. “Recycling is now a reality for every neighborhood in every community, and we have made Chicago a greener, more environmentally friendly city.”

In 2011, Emanuel implemented a managed competition for recycling services in an effort to create efficiencies and reduce operational costs on behalf of taxpayers. In one year, the competition decreased recycling costs by $4.7 million and paved the way for the citywide recycling expansion.

The blue cart recycling program provides biweekly recycling collection services to residents who live in single family homes, two-, three- and four-flat buildings.

More than 72,000 residents who live within the boundaries of the final expansion phase began receiving carts Oct. 7, 2013, and all blue cart deliveries will be completed Oct. 26. Recycling collection services for the city will begin by the end of October. Chicago’s recycling service providers include the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, Sims Municipal Recycling and Waste Management.

The city will use the single-stream program to sort out the various recyclables. Recyclables will be picked up and transported in designated recycling trucks to avoid contamination with regular garbage.