Your Diocese

ROMEOVILLE, IL — While no standard recycling program is in place in Illinois, communities are required by the State of Illinois to recycle 25 percent of their waste per year, said Mike Mitchell, executive director of the Illinois Recycling Association, a consortium of nearly 20 Illinois recycling organizations and businesses across the state that conduct and advocate recycling measures.

Every five years, representatives from towns and cities across the state are obliged to submit detailed reports about the situation of recycling in their communities, Mitchell said. The documents are intended to illustrate that recycling programs are in place and operational throughout the regions.

Mitchell noted that the statewide 25 percent recycling requirement has worked to help residents become savvier when it comes to recycling. Since it was initiated in the mid-1990s, over 420 residential communities in Illinois now offer curbside recycling management, covering more than 2.6 million homes.

Most communities have come on board with a stream of programs and services, however rural residents have found it increasingly difficult to meet the requirement because of dwindling population sizes and declining resources, Mitchell pointed out.

Residents throughout Illinois have also initiated recycling programs in an effort to keep down the cost of garbage-hauling services. In Kankakee County, community members participate in the Green Bag Recycling Program. The residents are issued bags for weekly curbside pick-up of paper and plastic.

In the northern portion of the Joliet Diocese, DuPage County residents in 2004 surpassed the state requirement of recycling 25 percent of their waste, achieving a 36 percent recycling rate, boasted Paul Darrah, a spokesperson for the county. In addition, DuPage County residents also recycled 4,224 large appliances. Facilities and receptacles for discarded automotive parts, propane tanks, scrap metal, paint, batteries, fire extinguishers and computers are located in several sites across the county, including Carol Stream, West Chicago and Lombard, he said.

According to Darrah, DuPage County officials also stage free collections for people interested in the safe disposal of hazardous wastes, including pesticides, household cleaners, oil-based paint, solvents, mercury and automotive fluids.

Over the course of 2004, Illinois residents recycled a combined 35 percent of their garbage, dramatically increasing from only 8 percent nearly two decades earlier, said Mitchell. The recycling rate in Illinois is above the 30 percent national average. Meanwhile, residents of South Dakota, New York, Maine, Virginia, South Carolina and Minnesota currently recycle approximately 40 percent or more of their waste.

Since wide-ranging recycling efforts were officially started in Illinois, the need for seven landfills across the state has been eliminated, added Mitchell.

Discussing specific recyclable products, Mitchell revealed that recycling aluminum is a beneficial measure because recycling one soda can saves enough energy to run a television or operate a computer for about three hours. Meanwhile, recycling plastic water bottles is quite critical because Americans use approximately 2.5 million of them per hour. About 20 pounds of plastic water bottles are packed into landfills per year for every person who regularly consumes the products, he added.

Meanwhile, in order to maintain and surpass the current recycling momentum in Illinois, Mitchell advised residents to recycle everything possible while at the same time recruiting neighbors and co-workers to join in with various community initiatives. He estimated that if every Illinois resident recycled an additional piece of paper per day, about 1,000 trees would likely be spared each year across the state. He also advocated buying products made from recycled materials to help the ongoing recycling process.

While Illinois residents have made notable recycling inroads in recent years, Mitchell admitted issues still loom across the state. Hauling recyclables away from rental complexes is not mandated in many communities, he added, highlighting an avenue for possible change in the future. Renters who live in apartment complexes throughout Illinois are seemingly exempt from recycling at this point unless private landowners choose to pay additional costs for recycling receptacles and equipment. Such practices are few and far between, he said.

In the meantime, Mitchell noted that “e-waste” is becoming a problem throughout Illinois and across the country. He explained that people are discarding computers at a substantial rate based on the perceived need to update the technology with new software and equipment. He also mentioned that standard television units would likely be considered outdated before 2010 in light of more advanced digital television systems. Millions of units are likely to end up wedged between heaps of garbage in landfills, he predicted.

At the same time, nearly 500 million cell phones and over 250 million pounds of ink cartridges from computer printers, fax machines, word processors and other printing devices are currently nestled along with other discarded computer equipment and trash inside landfills throughout the country, said Barb Crawford, national project director for Cartridges for Kids. Representatives from the Loveland, Colo.-based organization purchases worn-out ink cartridges and cell phones from schools and businesses and sells them back to manufacturers for refurbishment and eventual reuse.

Crawford mentioned that ink cartridges and cell phones together account for about 200,000 tons of solid waste crammed into landfills throughout the country. Students from St. Mary School in Park Forest and St. Raphael School in Naperville are among thousands of others across the nation participating in the Cartridges for Kids project.

Countless other youngsters living throughout Illinois are currently learning about the importance of recycling through curbside programs at their homes and through many hands-on programs at their schools.

The Chicago division of Abitibi Consolidated Inc., an international paper recycling organization, operates a free community-recycling program as a fund-raising vehicle for schools and churches. Children from schools in Joliet, including St. Joseph School, St. Mary Nativity School, St. Patrick School, Cathedral of St. Raymond School and St. Mary Magdalene School have tackled recycling endeavors through the Abitibi paper retrieval program.

Youngsters and faithful members of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Joliet typically raise about $150 per month for the school through the Abitibi recycling program. “It’s a great program. It’s a great way for them to learn,” said Kimberly Schlegal, school principal. The goal of the program “is to teach kids to conserve and take care of the planet. They see that their choices help the environment.”

The children of the Joliet Catholic school recently won a national Abitibi recycling contest, collecting the most paper during the later winter months, said Schlegal. Youngsters as well as parishioners recycled 23 tons of paper throughout January and February.

“It’s good for the environment and students learn about recycling,” said Kevin Rush, area manager for the Chicago Abitibi division based in St. Charles. Visible yellow and green containers are typically placed on school property where children, parents and community members can drop off newspapers, magazines, shopping catalogs and mail. Every month, Abitibi representatives gather the collected paper and reroute the items to recycling complexes across the country.

One ton of recycled paper saves 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, stated Rush. And, recycled paper fiber is the most efficient source of fiber for making new paper products. While numerous recycling operations are in service throughout the state and across the country, many recycling advocates are still unsatisfied with the recycling movement for a variety of reasons. Americans simply continue to throw away paper rather than recycling it, he said. Mainly everyone in the United States presently has “the option to recycle.” He added, “People need to take action.”

Stepping up to the plate, a group of nearly 12 students and faculty members of University of St. Francis in Joliet are bent on helping faculty members and students understand the critical importance of protecting God’s creation through a series of enrichment programs and environmental endeavors, including recycling activities. Gina Wysocki, a spokesperson for the Greening of Campus committee, mentioned the activists help make university decisions based on the ideas of preserving resources and reducing waste. The students also offer environmental education programs on campus and in the surrounding communities.

The group recently submitted a grant proposal to the State of Illinois to cover the over $40,000 cost of advanced recycling measures across the campus. Committee members are also interested in recycling university books and sports equipment, said Wysocki, noting the students plan on gathering the discarded items in the fall and donating them to Joliet elementary schools in need of assistance as well as social outreach agencies. “There are so many things to recycle along with paper and plastic,” she said.