Chicago City Council Calls for Mandatory C&D Recycling

The city of Chicago has included calling for mandatory recycling of construction and demolition waste as part of a plan to boost the recycling levels in the city.

The City Council recently introduced an aggressive program that aims to touch on a wide number of recycling topics.

For C&D, the city has approved an ordinance requiring construction and demolition sites to recycle a minimum of 25 percent of recyclable waste for building or demolition permits issued after January 2006, and 50 percent for building or demolition permits issued after January 2007.

Other steps the city is taking include: allowing third party haulers to deposit recyclables at city owned sorting facilities; developing an effective education program to boost commercial, construction and business recycling levels, and sending inspectors from the Department of Streets and Sanitation to conduct random inspections to ensure that compliance with recycling is being made.