Some Chicagoans recycle now. Others wait until 2011 for blue bins

But better
communication by the city is needed before residents will shed their
distrust of recycling in Chicago, critics say. On the heels of the
discredited blue-bag program, a storm of impatience is brewing.

“A
lot of money, energy and good will was violated and wasted through a
program that was doomed to fail,” said environmentalist Julie Samuels,
a board member of the Chicago Recycling Coalition, adding that she is
dismayed by the number of blue bags that went directly to landfills
without the requisite processing by city workers. “We’re very happy
that [city officials] have come to see the light, but we’d like to see
it done sooner.”

City
aldermen embrace the new recycling system, but said they are frustrated
some residents have to wait up to three years to receive carts.

“I
wish we could expedite the roll-out of the blue carts not only in our
ward, but throughout the city,” said Ald. Robert Fioretti (2d). “I
think we need to move forward as quickly as we can to have a true
recycling program.”

Three years
seems like a long time for the execution of the blue-cart program in
Chicago, according to Jeremy O’Brien, director of applied research at
the Solid Waste Association of North America. But residents must
consider how expensive it is to implement a single-stream recycling
system, in which the recyclables are completely separate from the
waste, he said. The blue-bag program did not require citizens to cull
recyclables from their garbage, depending on city workers to separate
them out.

“It’s difficult to phase
in when you have a city the size of Chicago,” O’Brien said, adding that
cities commonly use phases for this type of recycling program due to
the high cost of the carts and extra trucks needed for collecting.
“It’s difficult to do all at once from a financial standpoint,” he said.

Critics
say while they understand the budget prevents the entire city from
having blue carts immediately, there is no excuse for failing
communication about the plans. Many residents have no idea when they’ll
be receiving their carts and what they’re supposed to do in the mean
time, and some who do have carts didn’t know anything about them until
they showed up in their allies, they say.

“I
think there’s some skepticism still,” said Adam Goldstein, who runs a
Chicago non-profit recycling organization called “Do the Right Thing!
Recycling”. “If the education isn’t clear, if the terms aren’t laid out
perfectly … then they’ll have problems.”

Overall, parties are calling the blue-cart system a victory for Chicago.

“When
you make things easier for people, then they’ll do it,” said
Christopher Appelt, a biology professor at St. Xavier University who is
following the issue. “This makes recycling about as easy as it gets.
It’s as easy as trash. You’ve got one extra cart and you put your
recycling in it.”

But
environmentalists said they can’t help but wonder what the city could
have accomplished by now if the blue cart system was adopted 15 years
ago.

“You
cannot call yourself a green city if you don’t have a recycling system.
That is so fundamental,” Samuels said. “Had we been doing a separation
program in Chicago for a long time, we might be at a point where we
could have bins downtown because it’s the same system people have in
their kitchen.

“We have to help
people to see that these materials have value,” said Samuels, noting
that the concept of “throwing away” refuse is outmoded. “There is no
‘away’. Away does not exist. It’s a finite planet,” she said.