The city’s recent decision to throw out its curbside recycling program has it going against the tide in the waste-stream business.
Other south and southwest suburbs are not likely to do the same.
If anything, despite the cost, most communities want to recycle more, officials say.
“Most towns want to expand their recycling services,” said Tom Agema, general manager of Homewood Disposal, a waste hauler that contracts with a dozen south and southwest suburbs.
That sentiment was echoed by several local officials who said their residents had few or no complaints about paying about $2 more a month per household to have curbside recycling pickup.
“We heard very little negative feedback about the program or the fee,” said Mokena Village Administrator John Downs.
Mokena boosts about 85 percent household participation in its program, which accounts for 16 percent of its total waste stream.
That would put it right on target with state goals. Kurt Carroll, program specialist for the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, which is coordinating the area’s compliance with state recycling guidelines, said the state goals call for communities to reduce the flow of overall waste to landfills by 15 percent by March and by 25 percent in two more years.
But one of the major differences between the recycling programs in Mokena and Calumet City is that Calumet City handles its own garbage pickup while Mokena and many other south suburbs hire an outside contractor.
That leaves Calumet City scrambling to find markets for its recyclables, a task that at times city officials said became expensive and difficult.
Cost overruns and a difficulty in finding markets for some of their plastics were the reasons cited Thursday by Calumet City Mayor Jerry Genova, who broke a 3-3 City Council tie to scrap the city’s curbside recycling program.
But Genova said the vote does not mean recycling is dead. Instead the city will use a newly hired public relations firm, billboards and a literature blitz to promote voluntary recycling at a Public Works Department dropoff site.
A dropoff program in Crete that is run by the local Lions Club has had much success, but that is an exception rather than the rule.
“With curbside service, you get more participation,” said Mokena’s Downs, whose community originally kicked off its recycling efforts with a dropoff box.