Chicago Considers Incentive to Boost Recycling Rate

An alderman in Chicago is urging the city to create financial incentives to boost the city’s weak recycling rate.

According to a Chicago Sun-Times report, the city is considering replacing a garbage collection fee with a volume-based rate to give residents a financial incentive to recycle. The city hopes the incentive will help boost its current 9 percent recycling rate.

The Chicago Sun-Times has more details:

Chicago should seriously consider replacing its $9.50-a-month garbage collection fee with a volume-based rate to give homeowners a financial “incentive” to recycle — and boost a dismal 9 percent recycling rate, a Northwest Side alderman said Thursday.

Ald. John Arena (45th) pointed to Chicago’s 7-cents-a-bag tax on paper and plastic bags and the success it has had in driving consumers to reduce bag use and landfill costs.

“Create an incentive. Like we did with the plastic bags. When we banned them, it didn’t work. When we created a financial incentive or disincentive from taking one of those single-use bags, there was an 80 percent drop in single-use bags,” Arena said.

Read the full article here.