December 2024 Newsletter

The Board of Directors would like to extend their sincere gratitude to each attendee, speaker, sponsor, and tour guide that contributed to the success of this year's conference. Attendance was up 25% from past years and it was good to welcome longtime members as well as new industry professionals. Thank you to those of you that filled out the Evaluation Form and provided feedback about your experience. Additionally, thank you for the suggestions for next year's Joint Conference, that will be held on October 14 & 15, 2025, at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria.

If you would like any speaker's presentation, reach out to Mary S. Allen at ilcswma@gmail.com, and be sure to check out the 2024 conference photos.

New Waste World Episode!

Episode 7: "Illinois EPA & Recycle Coach Talk Recycling Challenges"

Stefanie Valentic and Gage Edwards team up with the Illinois EPA and Recycle Coach to tackle today’s biggest recycling challenges. From contamination to community engagement, they’re breaking down the barriers to better recycling practices.

Don’t miss this thought-provoking conversation about the future of waste management and sustainability!

WHO WE ARE

PaintCare is a nonprofit organization created by the paint industry to plan and operate paint recycling programs in states like Illinois that pass a paint stewardship law. 

WHAT WE DO

PaintCare will work with partners across the state to make recycling leftover paint more convenient for households and businesses. PaintCare operates a network of 2,400 drop-off sites across our 11 existing programs where you can take leftover paint to be recycled. Since 2009 when PaintCare started, we have collected more than 72 million gallons of paint through drop-off sites and other collection services. Soon Illinois will contribute to that total and help keep paint out of the waste stream. 

HOW THE PROGRAM IS BEING IMPLEMENTED 

PaintCare has begun outreach to paint retailers, household hazardous waste facilities, transfer stations, and other possible partners across the state. Outreach efforts to build relationships will continue through the start of the program in late 2025. 

In addition to outreach efforts, PaintCare solicited bids from companies to provide transportation and paint processing services in Illinois. This effort will guide several of the next steps in program planning as we determine our transportation and processing partners. PaintCare is also working to determine an appropriate fee structure in order to provide the Illinois PaintCare program with a long-term, sustainable funding source. The fee structure will be subject to an audit and eventually included in the program plan, which will be submitted to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) for their review before July 1, 2025. Once approved by the agency, PaintCare will launch the paint recycling program within six months. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

Do you currently collect paint at a facility or event in your community? Are you interested in how you can partner with PaintCare to make paint recycling easier? We want to talk with you! You can fill out this interest form to let us know more about your program: paintcare.org/drop-off-site-interest-form/ 

GET IN TOUCH

Questions? Reach out to Jacob Saffert, PaintCare’s Illinois Program Manager: jsaffert@paint.org. 

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) recognized LRS with the Recycling Facility of the Year Award for its new Exchange Materials Recovery Facility in Chicago.

What makes the LRS Exchange Material Recovery Facility (MRF) stand out is its commitment to transparency and education. Instead of operating in isolation, this facility is open to political leaders, universities, community groups, nonprofits, packaging designers, equipment engineers and partners. LRS builds advocates for recycling when it lifts the veil and shows the complexities, challenges and innovations in its operation. 

The Exchange MRF is a model of sustainability. It opened to divert Chicagoland recyclables from the landfill, increase LRS’ commitment to sustainability and strengthen its dedication to education. The Exchange MRF covers 10 acres in the stockyards of Chicago, and it sits adjacent to an LRS truck yard, creating a singular location used to house more than140 recycling and waste trucks. The neighboring truck yard allows LRS drivers to tip recyclables and park a short distance away, reducing truck traffic, particulate emissions and fuel use. The Exchange MRF processes 25 tons of recycling every hour with the potential to expand to a processing capacity of 40 tons per hour. 

Since the Exchange MRF opened in March 2023, it has hosted more than 800 guests to visit and tour the facility. Guests see the magnets, infrared cameras, robots, staff and machines involved in properly sorting recyclables. LRS works with many upstream engineers to encourage designing for recyclability. It knows these types of educational opportunities will lead to positive sustainable changes in packaging design. 

For Earth Month 2024, the Exchange MRF was accessible to the public for an open house, where more than 75 community members were able to see behind the scenes of recycling. LRS also released a virtual tour of the Exchange MRF and other educational resources.  LRS plans to produce and share more educational materials for young learners, high school students, colleges, communities and customers. LRS is committed to education, transparency and collaboration with the communities it serves. In 2023, LRS also released an interactive map with the city of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation to increase transparency regarding the city’s blue cart recycling program. This interactive map has been viewed more than 22,000 times and shows the journey of collection, sorting at the Exchange MRF and recycling. LRS is committed to increasing access to data for Chicagoland residents. 

“As we continue to expand our hauling and processing operations, our commitment to waste diversion will remain unchanged,” says LRS Chief Operating Officer Tony Cincotta. “We are honored and thrilled to receive NWRA’s Recycling Facility of the Year Award. The Exchange MRF is a testament to technological advances, recycling and innovation. We open our doors to everyone who is curious and committed to understanding the importance of recycling. The Exchange MRF acts as a beacon of learning, a model in diversion excellence and a hub of community involvement.”

The Exchange Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening

Take a virtual tour of the LRS Exchange Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to see what happens to your recyclables when they leave the curb.

The New Year Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announces the availability of $600,000 in funding from the Illinois Solid Waste Management Fund (SWMF), administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA or Agency) Materials Management and Compliance Section (MMCS). The SWMF provides funding for conducting household waste collection and disposal programs. See 415 ILCS 5/22.15(i). Sharps collected from private citizens are a household waste. Illinois EPA MMCS intends to reimburse units of local government that operate a sharps collection station, as defined in Section 3.458 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, for expenses incurred in collection, storing, and disposing of used sharps. Eligible expenses include costs to obtain collection containers for use by individual residents (if not otherwise available from the Agency), collection receptacles to store sharps at the sharps collection station, mobilization fees assessed by an appropriately permitted potentially infectious medical waste (PIMW) transporter to pick up collected sharps, and disposal fees for the collected sharps. Each unit of local government is eligible for the actual costs of sharps collection and disposal, up to $35,000.00. Eligibility criteria and more information can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

Applications will be accepted until funding is expended or until June 30, 2025.

The Illinois Food Scrap & Composting Coalition invites counties and municipalities to get involved during the International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) by hosting an event, being part of the planning committee, or participating in an activity.

IFSCC shares fun ideas on how to:

• Send a press release about ICAW 2025
• Educate residents on the benefits of compost
• Promote compost services in your community
• Host a compost bin sale to help increase diversion
• Plan events to distribute finished compost

Illinois libraries and park districts are also invited to join IFSCC during ICAW

IFSCC shares fun ideas on how to:

• Highlight educational, interactive composting books
• Host compost-focused events for all ages
• Engage communities in composting
• Develop compost activities as climate action

Be sure to visit the ICAW website at https://illinoiscomposts.org/icaw-2025/# for more details and lots of resources!

NEVER put batteries OF ANY KIND in your recycling bin or cart! Batteries can NOT be recycled in your home recycling bin. They may only be recycled through special collection programs or drop-offs. Contact your local municipality or agency to learn more. Staples and Batteries Plus stores are also a resource for battery drop off!

Click HERE for more information and other campaign graphics for social media platforms and newsletters.

STAY CONNECTED

Please send in information to share with the membership about a new program, data from a collection event, or anything pertaining to successful waste prevention initiatives or enforcement. If you are a full member and have others in your department that would like to receive this newsletter, please send an email request to ILCSWMA's administrative coordinator, Mary S. Allen, at ilcswma@gmail.com.