Lynwood Recycling Center and Wauconda Recycling Center are a family-owned and -operated business. The owners, Pat and Tim Potempa, were raised in Lake Zurich, IL,  along with two brothers and two sisters. In their youth, they all pitched in and helped their parents run another family-owned business, Ozzi's Water Park. These entrepreneur brothers have been involved in researching and implementing techniques for eco-friendly disposition of what was once considered "Waste," and for that reason started Lynwood and Wauconda recycling.

Their mission is to give the most honest, sincere, and trustworthy recycling services available. They know how hard people work for their money, so why not be rewarded for it with the best price for scrap and the most transparent services to be seen? 

Those services include 10 to 40-yard roll-off dumpsters ready to be delivered to the customer’s site. That customer receives top dollar for all commodities placed in that dumpster. Gaylord boxes, 4’by 4’ will be dropped off at the customer’s site and picked up once filled. Both Wauconda and Lynwood have a fleet of trucks with onboard scales that can weigh and pay the customer on-site for non-ferrous material.

Whether the plan is to save the world or receive cash for the stuff you want to get rid of, Potempa Recycling has a solution for its customers, will provide the most money for the material, and the best experience possible. 

Potempa Recycling believes in three things: being upfront and honest—they provide the best prices and will match competitor’s prices;   transparency—they weigh all materials right in front of the customer and explain how the whole process works, so the customer is assured of getting the most money for their material; and efficiency—Potempa prides itself on its efficiency, by responding to their customers needs as quickly as possible.

For more information, please visit their website:

http://www.potemparecycling.com

Lunch and Learn Webinar on October 1st

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Lunch and Learn Webinar!

Topic: IRF Lunch & Learn Webinar - Campus Sustainability

Date: October 1, 2024

Time: 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Location: Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvduCpqDwuH9fObm2PVbQ_0flOy18EGOUF

As institutions of higher learning, campuses have a unique responsibility to lead by example in the pursuit of sustainability. This webinar will explore innovative strategies and best practices that can help your campus reduce its environmental footprint, promote a culture of sustainability, and contribute positively to the global effort against climate change.

Why Campus Sustainability Matters:

• Environmental Stewardship: Colleges and universities have a significant impact on the environment. By adopting sustainable practices, campuses can reduce waste, conserve resources, and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
• Educational Impact: Implementing sustainability initiatives not only benefits the environment but also educates students, faculty, and staff on the importance of sustainable living. It prepares the next generation to be responsible global citizens.
• Community Engagement: A sustainable campus fosters a sense of community and shared responsibility. It can inspire local businesses, government entities, and other institutions to adopt similar practices, amplifying the impact.

Join us to learn from experts in the field who will share actionable insights on how you can drive sustainability on your campus, whether you’re just getting started or looking to enhance existing efforts.

How to Join:

Please register in advance to secure your spot:

Register Here

Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the webinar.

We look forward to seeing you there!



Save your spot now!

In-Person Event - Site Visit

Fortune Metals Tour

October 17, 2024

Brian Matza of Fortune Metals has invited IRF members to tour their facility at 1212 E. 6th St. in Sandwich, Illinois on October 17, 2024 at 11:30 AM.

Please RSVP to Barb Day (847-275-0310 or barbjday1934@gmail.com). Attendees must wear closed-toe shoes. Safety glasses will be provided. The tour will take 30-45 minutes. Fortune Metal is kind enough to provide lunch for our group. As you can see from the picture below, the operation exists 100% indoors, but weather permitting, we can walk around the parking lot where loads arrive to better understand how material flows through the facility.

The tour will cover a number of things: what happens once commercial and industrial scrap is picked up, where it goes, does it actually get recycled; how manufacturers and processors in the State of Illinois comply with e-scrap laws; what businesses and municipalities do with their collected recyclables; and what happens next in the recycling chain. The tour will demonstrate sorting of mixed materials; processing of plastics; telecommunication and utility scrap; segregation of universal (batteries, fluorescent bulbs, mercury relay switches, used oil) and hazardous wastes; and reverse manufacturing of electronics (large mainframes, computers, consumer).

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Partners with Recycle Coach for Illinois Recycling Education Program

Springfield, IL — September 5 — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Recycle Coach have teamed up to provide residents access to digital technology, aimed at revolutionizing communications around waste management across the state. The llinois EPA is committed to help all Illinois residents understand how to properly recycle or dispose of household materials. This initiative will include a statewide study, a tool kit, an interactive map, and a smartphone app to identify recyclables and what to do with non-recyclables. The tool kit, map, and app will each be tailored to the unique opportunities available to participating communities. 

Read more

There's a lot of exciting things happening, at least for local government officials, in the world of Illinois recycling right now. And boy, it sure is keeping me busy! Between joining many of my compatriots here in the Northeast in getting our program information into Recycle Coach and working through the ins and outs of getting a major U.S. EPA-funded education and outreach project started, it's been full tilt. I hope that your fall is perhaps more relaxing but equally as productive.

I'm excited about a lot of the learning opportunities that IRF has coming up too! I haven't yet been to a metal and e-waste scrapping facility on the scale of Fortune Metal, so I'm looking forward to that and hope to see you there. I'm also enthusiastic about our upcoming lunch and learn on campus sustainability, which, as I see it, is a direct off-shoot from the 2024 IRF Conference, where college and university attendees expressed a need and desire to be in more frequent communication about their materials management approaches and challenges. Even if you're not in higher ed, it's sure to be an interesting listen. We also hope to have an exciting announcement about the 2025 Conference in the near future, so stay tuned!

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

ArcelorMittal concerned about steel overcapacity

Luxembourg-based global steelmaker ArcelorMittal has reported narrower profits in this year’s second quarter compared with the prior one and has expressed concerns about overcapacity in the global steel market.

In the April through June time frame, ArcelorMittal reports net income of slightly more than $500 million, down 46 percent from the $938 million earned the prior quarter. The company cites impacts of noncash items tied to a mark-to-market situation of shares of Vallourec, a fellow steelmaker in which it is purchasing a 28 percent stake.

Analysis by Wiley Rein LLP points to “persistent government intervention and subsidies,” focusing on three steel producers in China. Steelmakers in North America, Europe and several other parts of the world—and the metals recyclers providing part of their feedstock—have long accused Chinese producers of receiving subsidies and creating far more steelmaking capacity than is needed in that country.

Read more

MRF and mill advances expected to fuel North American recovered fiber demand, Fastmarkets says

During a recent webinar, analysts highlighted tight OCC and mixed paper supply, as well as ongoing demand from mills willing to pay for cleaner recovered paper material from higher-tech MRFs. Recovered paper demand is expected to grow in North America as MRF equipment advances, OCC fetches higher prices and mills continue to make improvements that prioritize recovered fiber, according to Fastmarkets analysts during a webinar on Tuesday.



OCC prices in North America have stabilized in the last year, in part because of new recycled fiber-based mill capacity that has recently come online. A recent analysis from Jefferies showed July OCC prices were up 114% year over year, averaging around $105 a ton. At the same time, overall recovered paper supplies are tight — a trend analysts are expecting to continue even as recyclers become more adept at recovering higher volumes of cleaner material and mills make adjustments to accommodate more recycled materials in their products.

Read more

Mitigating Landfill Emissions with Data-Driven Decision-Making

Landfills are, indeed, a significant source of emissions. U.S. landfills contributed about 14.4 percent of human-related methane emissions—equivalent to the emissions of about 24 million passenger cars—in 2022, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since methane is a potent greenhouse gas with more than 28 times the impact of carbon dioxide, mitigating methane emissions can have important impacts. Scientific models are used to make predictions about climate change. These models also shape the actions taken to reduce human-produced greenhouse gases. For example, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change developed internationally agreed upon guidelines regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting that countries around the world use for official reporting. The data produced can help countries decide where to focus their efforts so they can meet their decarbonization commitments.

Models are, most definitely, incredibly useful for these purposes. They help to set goals, inform strategies, and track progress. However, studies that determine actual emissions are key when refining decarbonization tactics.

Read more

The Recycling Partnership Doubles Down to Boost PET Recovery

The Pico Rivera facility, a secondary sorting facility in Los Angeles County, which processes material from multiple MRFs, is homing in on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), especially a few less-captured materials. These target items include pigmented and opaque PET and non-bottle PET (aka thermoforms) such as containers and cups. This focus has sharpened as extended producer responsibility laws (EPR) take shape and as MRFs and packaging materials reclaimers are anticipating huge spikes in plastics flowing into the recycling stream. The California operation is getting help from The Recycling Partnership—grant monies to put toward an optical sorter and related equipment that the facility’s operator Valemi says will bump its sorting capacity by 3.73 million pounds a year—representing a 70 percent increase.

Read more

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 $527.25. Want to participate? Just follow the steps bellow and use Program ID #32599

Recent Recycling News

One Austin sports stadium’s zero waste solution: build a mini MRF

Texas Disposal Systems custom-built the MRF for a cramped space inside Q2 Stadium to help the facility divert 90% of waste and achieve a key zero waste building certification. Soccer fans in Austin, Texas, are serious about their sport — and serious about the sustainability-focused amenities in Q2 Stadium where their team plays. 



A new “mini MRF,” built inside the stadium, isn’t visible to Austin FC fans. Yet the custom-built equipment is a key to helping the stadium achieve a zero waste designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. 

Read more

Keurig Dr Pepper to pay $1.5M to settle charges about K-Cup recyclability

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the beverage company omitted from filed documents some important information about testing curbside recyclability of its K-Cup coffee pods.

Read more

Study shows how oceans are key to addressing global challenges

A team of researchers representing organizations and universities in China, Denmark and the U.K. recently published in Nature about a trio of enzymes found in ocean micro-organisms that can break down PET plastic.

Read more

24M test data shows ‘breakthrough’ in battery fire

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based 24M has released new testing data for its Impervio battery separator and says the product addresses the growing concern of battery safety for electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage systems (ESS) and consumer applications.

The company says Impervio, which was first announced in January, addresses the safety risk of overcharging, among other benefits. The company notes that overcharging occurs when a battery exceeds its safe charging threshold yet continues to charge and overheats—which has caused numerous EV fires over the past year.

Read more

HELP US CELEBRATE YOU

You can show off in a press release or simply show us your everyday operation. Either way, we can utilize your photos on social media and on our website. We are asking IRF Members to send photos of their recycling and collection operations. Pictures can be of office collection, residential drop-off, MRF sorting lines, curbside service, someone placing items in recycle bins, reuse events, compost operations, etc. Please send jpeg/jpg pictures to info@illinoisrecycles.org.

“Recycling starts with us, but it never ends. It goes through an eternal cycle of transformation, renewing hope for our planet.”

- Anonymous

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