The Chicago Recycling Coalition (CRC) champions environmentally and fiscally sound management of solid waste through research, education, and advocacy. Click any of the icons below to learn more about this material stream or process and how we can promote waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, and buying recycling in Chicago!
What’s New
Have you heard about Recycle Coach? This free app is the official waste and recycling app for residents of Chicago and Illinois. Thousands of Chicagoans are already using the app!
Recycle Coach provides personalized collection reminders, recycling guidance, and a searchable tool that lets you find out what belongs in the Blue Cart recycling program by typing in an item or snapping a photo. It also includes a “Discovery” section with facts and educational content for both adults and children to learn more about proper recycling in Chicago. While reducing and reusing should come before recycling whenever possible, this app focuses specifically on helping residents recycle correctly and confidently.
The app’s address-based guidance is tailored to the City’s official residential curbside services (single-family homes and buildings with up to four units). Even if your building contracts separately for recycling, the educational content can still help you understand local recycling practices. We encourage residents to explore the app and share feedback directly through the app or directly to dssrecycling@cityofchicago.org— the more people who use it and provide input, the more accurate and helpful it can become.
Be on the lookout for a review from CRC on Recycle Coach’s functionality!
Check out our new issue brief on bioplastics here!
Featured Posts
Recycling: It’s The Law
Chicago Municipal Code (11-5-010)
“This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Chicago Recycling Ordinance’. Effective January 1, 2017, source-separated recycling shall be deemed to be the method of recycling used in the City of Chicago. Source-separated recycling requires all persons citywide to place recyclable material in designated recycling containers and to keep recyclable material separate from waste until such time that the recyclable material is collected for delivery to a properly permitted facility.”