Experts Look to Improve Peoria Recycling Rates

"If we’re going to make significant gains beyond the 30 to 35 percent rates we’re achieving now, we have to develop more markets for recycling goods," said Bob Casteel, a spokesman for the Bureau for Energy & Recycling at the Illinois Department of Commerce & Community Affairs.

Recent data indicates larger counties in Illinois are recycling more, while smaller counties are doing less recycling. According to an April report by the Illinois Recycling Association, 33 counties or planning jurisdictions covering 78 percent of the state’s population either met or exceeded a mandated 25 percent recycling compliance rate. Peoria, Tazewell, McLean and McDonough counties fell in that category.

However, only 34 counties with a population of 25,000 to 100,000 report an average recycling rate of 21 percent, with only 11 exceeding the 25 percent goal. Only three counties with a population less than 25,000 - Warren, Henderson and Edwards - reported recycling levels of at least 25 percent.

Statewide, efforts of this $12 billion-a-year industry have stagnated. Illinois Environmental Protection Agency data indicates that in 2001, 5.24 million tons of waste was recycled compared to 5.3 million tons in 2000. In Peoria County, the recycling rate dropped from 37 percent in 2000 to 31 percent in 2001, said Karen Raithel, director of solid waste operations for the county. Peoria County data includes residential and commercial recycling.

"We don’t see it as a big concern because of how we do the (compliance) calculations," Raithel said. "We have businesses that return their (recycling) reports after filling it out to the best of their abilities so there might be a slight fluctuation.

"And we’ve seen the economic impact on (recycling), and businesses see this as being a low-hanging fruit . . . something that needs to be cut without impacting employees or services."

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency numbers show in the Peoria/Quad Cities district, 214,230 tons of waste was recycled, averaging 23 percent compliance, or below the mandated 25 percent level. The Peoria/Quad Cities district includes 14 counties extending west to the Mississippi River from Tazewell and Woodford counties.

Casteel and Reg Willis, division manager for recycling at DCCA, claim that even the most updated recycling data isn’t scientific because not every business submits recycling information. Regardless, Willis said improvements in marketing recycling statewide is under way.

One such plan set to be studied soon is referred to as single-stream collecting. Under this program, all recyclable commodities - from paper to glass to aluminum cans - would be placed in one large container for pick-up once every two weeks. Willis said the program is being used in Lake County and that recycling compliance has increased because of it.

If this program is implemented statewide, Willis predicts it could cut collection costs while increasing recycling compliance.

"It really lends itself to multi-family dwellings and to the elderly, also," Willis said. "It looks good from what information we’ve gotten verbally and we’ll run a few (tests) and see what it’ll mean."

Currently, most recycling is done by individual separating and collecting of commodities.

Any type of positive effort to improve recycling awareness is good, Raithel said.

"Like I said, we’ve reached that plateau and unless something comes along to excite those aspirations, recycling will remain stagnant," she said. – The (Peoria) Journal Star