When it comes to recycling performance among major cities, Chicago has long had a reputation for stagnancy. City staff and local stakeholders believe that could soon change.
Following the release of a detailed waste strategy last summer, Chicago is working to expand program staff at its Department of Streets and Sanitation and look toward new initiatives. The department touted a recent announcement about organics drop-off partnerships with community gardens, and officials are hopeful about performance improving in the city’s Blue Cart residential recycling program.
While Chicago’s July 2021 report didn’t set any specific recycling rate or waste reduction targets, it contained a dozen short-term priorities through 2022. A November 2021 update showed only partial progress, but the leader of a nonprofit that helped write the city report says change is well underway.
“We’re really optimistic that there’s a lot of opportunity to move forward, and we see some momentum now,” said Bill Schleizer, CEO of the Delta Institute, a nonprofit focused on environmental and economic issues in Midwestern communities. “Chicago really does have a bad reputation when it comes to waste management, but when we kind of opened it up, it became apparent that there is a lot of opportunity in the city to rethink both what it does and what the city as a whole can do.”
Schleizer said Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration has created a new infrastructure around these issues, in part due to what it learned from the study process, and it is working to better align priorities between DSS and other agencies. The city has also advanced a major climate bond, which notes “organic waste diversion” as a potential community climate investment, and DSS has started adding new staff.
DSS Assistant Commissioner Carter O’Brien is one such hire. O’Brien started in October, following years of advocacy in leadership roles at the Chicago Recycling Coalition, and he is tasked with advancing the city’s waste strategy.
Organics recycling will be an initial focus, including recent pumpkin smash recycling events and an upcoming community garden project. DSS plans to set up composting systems at six community gardens to give local residents an option for dropping off food scraps; finished compost will then be used in the gardens. The project, done in partnership with nonprofit NeighborSpace, is funded by the city as well as a Natural Resources Defense Council grant. O’Brien described it as important from both a diversion and equity standpoint.
