Tons of waste have never gone to landfills, as the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) has found ways to recycle materials ranging from electronics and batteries to paint, household chemicals, and much more since it began operating in 1991.
From working with members from 43 municipalities throughout Lake County as well as the county itself, SWALCO Executive Director Walter Willis said creativity and education are two of the ingredients lending to the organization’s success.
Willis said working with waste haulers, he and his staff learned how to mesh efforts like including food scraps with yard waste for composting keeping people’s meat bones and spoiled vegetables out of landfills.
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“We worked with a hauler to combine food scraps with yard waste,” Willis said. “It’s kept tons of food waste from landfills. We continue to make more things recyclable.”
SWALCO celebrated its 35th anniversary Friday at its Gurnee facility, touting its successes and showing representatives from communities around Lake County how the organization achieves its mission.
Entities like SWALCO are relatively new. Willis said in 1986 that the idea of a solid waste management plan came into being. Within a few years, the Illinois General Assembly required larger municipalities and counties to develop a plan. Lake County was the first.
“Lake County took it very seriously. Developing relationships with municipalities was very important. Every town in Lake County has considered recycling,” Willis said. “Recycle first, trash last,” he added, referring to their popular motto.”
Cooperation with waste haulers works well, collecting recyclables from homeowners and others who live in single-family houses. Willis said SWALCO is making inroads with apartment owners. Commercial recycling is more of a challenge. Highwood was the first city, with Highland Park next.
In most municipalities, Willis said individual businesses and other commercial entities are responsible for their waste hauling, entering into contracts with the hauler of their choice. Communities that mandate commercial recycling enter into a contract with a hauler for all the businesses.
Along with Highland Park and Highwood, Deerfield, Bannockburn, Lake Bluff, Libertyville, Grayslake, Gurnee, Lindenhurst, Round Lake Beach and Volo, have full commercial recycling, according to SWALCO’s website. North Chicago, Lincolnshire, Lake Villa and Riverwoods have expanded programs. Waukegan currently has a pilot program for commercial recycling.
Education is another way to increase the amount of materials that are recycled rather than sent to a landfill. Willis said that when a large percentage of people in Waukegan, North Chicago and Zion were putting garbage in recycling bins, a canvassing effort was implemented in March of last year.
“More than 800 customers were doing it wrong before we started,” Willis said. “By April, it was down to 200, and then it was 150. We’ve seen a huge improvement in performance.”
A solution also exists for items like batteries, paint, clothing and other things which cannot go into a recycling bin. Emily Wachter, SWALCO’s senior communications manager, said people can bring them to SWALCO’s facility in Gurnee for disposal during regular business hours.
A machine is used to remove paint from cans and then crush the container for recycling. Wachter said a system is in place to deal with potentially flammable items like batteries and certain household chemicals.
“We have a high expansion foam fire suppression system,” Wachter said. “It fills the whole room with foam,” she added explaining how it immediately extinguishes a fire which may start. “Flushing them down the drain can do damage to certain marine life.”
Peter Adrian, SWALCO’s recycling coordinator, said items like batteries, electronics including phones and computers, both oil and latex paints and textiles like clothing require special handling for recycling. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) helps.
“A lot of it is done by the IEPA or third-party vendors,” Adrian said. “Some items are broken down into their raw materials for use. Some things are shredded.”
Not everything can be kept out of a landfill. Adrian said about 5% of the things they collect to hopefully recycle cannot be reused.