Welcome to this month’s newsletter from the Illinois Recycling Association (IRA) and Illinois Recycling Foundation (IRF). We’re dedicated to keeping you informed on the latest sustainability efforts, upcoming events, and ways you can get involved in promoting responsible recycling in Illinois.

Here's a gentle reminder that it's time to renew IRF membership for calendar 2025! Current members looking to renew online will need to log into the website with their existing account. If you have trouble logging in, please call 708-847-0827 or email info@illinoisrecycles.org. Please renew by December 31, 2024!

Please welcome a new IRF member. Established in 2014, Chicago-based RDI's mission is to provide customized electronic recycling service and IT solutions with a reliable, secure, and environmentally-friendly recycling process.  RDI provides full-service support that includes pick-up and removal of retired electronics, sorting, dismantling, and recycling. RDI also provides end-of-life solutions for solar panels and other array components.

RDI is committed to meet or exceed their customer’s requirements, to continually improve their processes, and to maintain compliance with relevant environmental, occupational health and safety, data security legislation and regulations.  RDI can customize a program for special healthcare devices.  They erase the confidential data from information assets in a safe and secure way, with data destruction certificate reports and repacking for shipment, ensuring the data is permanently unrecoverable and completely eliminating the risk of leaks.  They strive to produce an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and reliable service to process e-waste and recover asset value. 

Join us for the 2025 IRF Conference, in partnership with ILCSWMA and SWANA.

📅 Dates: Tuesday, October 14, 2025, and Wednesday, October 15, 2025

📍 Location: East Peoria, Illinois



Stay tuned for more details and opportunities to participate in this exciting event!

On November 14, 2024, we hosted a successful Lunch & Learn on Park Sustainability. The webinar showcased innovation to address the unique challenges related to recycling and sustainability initiatives at Parks and other public places.

Missed the event? You can watch the recording here.

On November 13, representatives of the U.S. EPA joined the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and local government partners for an event at the LRS Exchange Materials Recovery Facility to announce a $2 million grant to support the Chicago Metro Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) campaign, which aims to increase the collection of recyclable materials and decrease contamination of the recycling stream in hundreds of communities in northeastern Illinois. IRF Board President, Clair Ryan of Kane County was humbled and grateful to be asked to speak on behalf of the governmental partners at the event. In her remarks, she highlighted some of the most sticky challenges we face collectively in boosting our recycling rates across the region to meet goals and reduce landfill demand, and how the marketing campaign that will be funded through the grant will hopefully inject some fun and interest into recycling again. Check out some local news coverage of the event!

The holidays are sneaking up on me like they always do! Somehow it's almost Thanksgiving already, and I have a lot to be thankful for! I'm very grateful to my colleagues on the IRF Board for all the work they contributed to the annual conference in June, various webinars, administrative changes, and our monthly meetings. It's been such a pleasure to welcome our new Directors this year, and of course to continue working with continuing Directors as well. I'm also very grateful to our staff - Sue Steilen who stuck it out with us longer than she had planned but who was instrumental to our Crystal Lake conference coming together, and current Executive Director Nathan Mihelich, who has already successfully implemented some major positive changes to how we run things. Thanks as well to all of our members and sponsors who keep us funded to continue making a difference in the recycling sphere (and don't forget to renew :)). Finally, I'm grateful for all of my colleagues in the recycling space, especially the movers and shakers who advance new policy and new ideas and never take their eyes off the prize of improving materials management systems and increasing diversion from Illinois landfills. These folks help me remain hopeful that even when the political tides change at the federal level, we can continue to improve our industry and our engagement here in Illinois.

Wishing everyone a safe and delicious Thanksgiving!

NORMAL, Ill. — On a crisp October morning at the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, the Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association's 2024 conference began with a powerful statement about the future of waste management. Elisabeth Reed, an Illinois Recycling Foundation (IRF)board member, took the podium to deliver a keynote address that would set the tone for two days of intensive discussion about the state's environmental future.

The conference with President Clair Ryan leading a strong organizational presence. Ryan contributed thoughtfully to participation in policy discussions, particularly during sessions on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation and organics recycling programs.

The strong IRF presence was further reinforced by Secretary Anthony Tindall and Illinois Recycling Association Secretary Marta Keane, both of whom participated in sessions spanning electronics recycling, paint stewardship program

llinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation, referred to as the Large Event Recycling and Composting Law, that requires large event facilities with a capacity of 3,500 people or more to provide receptacles and hauling service to collect and compost food scraps separately from recyclable materials, during ticketed events. It applies only to permanent structures, such as convention centers and sports stadiums, where large crowds gather for events that produce significant amounts of waste. The composting provisions only apply to facilities in counties where composting facilities are present. Facilities to be in violation of this law will face fines up to $1,500 for the first offense and $2,500 for each subsequent offense. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. “Policies like these are such a great example of how environmentally friendly decisions are often also economically beneficial decisions,” said State Senator Karina Villa, an author of SB2876. “For instance, Illinois is already home to 110,000 recycling jobs. By embracing more recycling opportunities, as we do in this legislation, we can see recycling create up to ten times more jobs than landfilling, and composting can create up to four times as many jobs.”

A new recycling center has opened in South Beloit, Ill., and will accept electronics and other hard-to-recycle materials once a month.

Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful (KNIB) opened the South Beloit Recycle Center last week. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of every month. Residents can recycle TVs, monitors, electronics, appliances, metals, and textiles.

“This is an awesome site, and it’s the Public Works Department, and it’s still under an overhang so we still have protection from weather,” says Pamela Osborne, Executive Director of KNIB.

Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS), Illinois' largest waste and recycling provider, is advancing toward net zero operations by 2040. With sustainability managers Natalie Grimaldi and Joy Rifkin, LRS focuses on landfill emissions capture, route optimization, and equipment decarbonization, while promoting recycling through state-of-the-art facilities and partnerships with schools for educational outreach.

Veolia, has introduced an innovative solution to salvage copper from electrical cables in decommissioned nuclear facilities. By developing a new method of safe handling to dispose of the contaminated plastic coating that protects the core from radiation, the new process reduces the treatment time and cost, and preserves the valuable copper for recycling. The process represents a significant carbon saving as capturing the copper for recycling saves around 85% of the emissions associated with copper sulphide extraction from large open pit mines.

It’s time for some trash talk. That’s because some Lake County communities are beginning a new program impacting garbage collections.

The Hefty ReNew program kicking off in October will be giving residents in nine municipalities, including Bannockburn, Deerfield, Gurnee, Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Villa, Lincolnshire, North Chicago and Riverwoods, an easy way to get rid of those devilish — yet convenient — plastic grocery bags.

Also included in the initiative are unincorporated areas of five townships: Avon, Moraine, Shields, Warren and West Deerfield.

Thank You to our 2024 Benefactors!

Consider adding your logo here next to Helping Hands and Alta Equipment Company. Become a 2024 BENEFACTOR for $2000.

If you have already joined and would like to upgrade to this status, send an email to executivedirector@illinoisrecycles.org

The Ink-Stained Path to Sustainability

In the realm of environmental initiatives, the Illinois Recycling Foundation (IRF) has found an unlikely hero: the printer cartridge. Our updated total income from participation in the Planet Green Recycle program this year is $651.00. Want to participate? Just follow the steps bellow and use Program ID #32599

Job Posting

RECYCLING EDUCATION AND OUTREACH SPECALIST

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, a nonprofit with 275 municipal members, is seeking a Recycling Education & Outreach Specialist to support a 3-year US EPA-funded campaign aimed at increasing recycling participation and reducing contamination in the Chicago metro area. This role involves collaborating with local governments, community partners, and residents, focusing on environmental justice communities across DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, and parts of Cook counties.

Key Responsibilities:

• Coordinate with marketing consultants and coalition partners to develop and launch a regional recycling education campaign.
• Create and distribute outreach materials, engage community leaders, and support local events promoting proper recycling practices.
• Tailor messaging for low-income and underserved communities, ensuring cultural and linguistic sensitivity.
• Lead presentations, workshops, and activities to educate residents and stakeholders on recycling programs.
• Build and maintain relationships with municipal governments, environmental groups, and community organizations to support the campaign’s goals.
• Track and report outreach efforts to ensure progress toward grant targets.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 2+ years of experience in recycling, sustainability, environmental education, or similar fields.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and experience delivering presentations.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Zoom, and CRM systems.
• Valid driver’s license and personal vehicle for local travel (up to 50% of the time).
• Knowledge of Chicago suburbs and Spanish fluency are a plus.

Salary & Benefits:

• Full-time position, salary range $50,000–$62,000, based on experience.
• Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, 401k with company contribution, PTO, and 12 paid holidays.

Employment & Working Conditions: This hybrid position requires local travel across the Chicago metro area for in-person meetings and events. The role is full-time through May 2027, with potential for extension based on grant funding.

How to Apply: Submit your application, resume, cover letter, and optional writing samples by November 20, 2024, at https://metropolitanmayorscaucus.submittable.com.

Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to be dispersed because we’ve been ignorant of their value.

– R. Buckminster Fuller

Illinois Recycling Foundation / Illinois Recycling Association,

PO Box 411, Geneva IL 60134

708-847-0827

info@illinoisrecycles.org