State Government – Technical Assistance Program

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Project Title: Illinois Materials Management & Recycling Opportunities Report

Sector: State Government

Location: Illinois, Statewide

Services: Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Pollution Prevention, Process Optimization, Stakeholder Engagement, Resilient Solutions, Sustainability Planning, Waste Reduction/Management

Background: Between 2019 and 2021, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Technical Assistance Program provided support to the Illinois EPA (IEPA) and the statewide Materials Management Advisory Committee (MMAC) in the development of the MMAC report submitted to the Illinois General Assembly in July 2021. In early 2022, ISTC began collaborating with IEPA to identify ongoing study needs associated with the MMAC Report. Specifically, the MMAC Report established the following statewide diversion goals:

• 2025: 40% diversion

• 2030: 45% diversion

• 2035: 50% diversion

IEPA commissioned ISTC to conduct a two-year study focused on researching large volume recyclable materials to better understand recycling and diversion efforts throughout Illinois and barriers and opportunities to further diversion. Through conversations with IEPA and stakeholders involved with the MMAC report, ISTC decided on five material categories to focus on for this study. They include glass, metals, organics (food waste and yard waste), plastics (#1, 2, 5), and textiles.

This study focused on one primary question: Where should IEPA focus their efforts, resources, and funding to further divert these materials from the landfill?

Approach: ISTC began by reviewing and analyzing data from the MMAC report, primarily Table 2 on page 26 and Table 4 on pages 56-57. Data from these tables uses the material breakdown from the 2015 Illinois Commodity/Waste Generation and Characterization Study Update (IC/WGCS) and applies it to 2018 landfill generation data. As of 2024, this is the most up-to-date data on waste composition in Illinois. Note that in conjunction with the Statewide Recycling Needs Assessment Act, the IEPA will be funding a statewide waste characterization study to identify the annualized volume of individual materials generated in Illinois by geographic region of the state. That forthcoming waste characterization will provide updated waste composition data that can be used in guiding materials management decisions.

ISTC then conducted research to better understand the state of recycling and diversion for each targeted material. In addition to the initial stakeholder engagement focused on MMAC contributors and participants, virtual stakeholder listening sessions for each material were held, with follow-up conversations as needed to accommodate scheduling conflicts, connect with additional individuals suggested by session participants, or to collect further information from session participants. Questions asked at each of the listening sessions included:

• What are the barriers to diverting this material from the landfill?

• What are the opportunities to further divert this material from the landfill?

• What types of support and investment form the Illinois EPA would be most impactful to diverting this material from the landfill?

Results: ISTC submitted a report to IEPA in December 2024 summarizing its findings. The report consists of chapters for each of the five materials listed above and a sixth chapter summarizing stakeholder input gathered from listening sessions and follow-up conversations. While existing efforts, infrastructure, markets, etc. differ for each material (and thus the research conducted for each material), each material category has subchapters on:

• Definitions – Defining key terms used throughout the chapter.

• Generation – What data is available to better understand generation of each material?

• Impacts on the environment and human health – What are the impacts of allowing each material to end up in a landfill? What are the impacts of recycling each material?

• Collection – How are these materials collected for recycling?

• Infrastructure – What recycling infrastructure exists for each material?

• End markets – What end markets exist for this recycled material? What markets need to be developed or bolstered for each material?

• Existing policy/regulations – What policies and/or regulations exist in Illinois that govern the recycling process for each material? What policies or regulations could be put in place to increase the recycling and diversion of each material?

• Existing goals – What local, state, or national goals exist for the recycling and diversion of each material?

• Existing funding opportunities – What local, state, or national funding opportunities exist for the recycling and diversion of each material?

• Existing education & resources – What local, state, or national educational resources exist for the recycling and diversion of each material?

• Solutions & Research Gaps – What are the best practices for recycling and diverting additional material from the landfill? What research gaps exist to better understanding challenges and opportunities to recycling each material?

In early 2025, IEPA shared the report with stakeholders who participated in the MMAC and provided feedback to ISTC as part of this follow-up study. IEPA subsequently published the report on its website to foster ongoing statewide discussions about improving recycling and sustainable materials management in Illinois. It is available online at https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127016.

IEPA news release announcing the report: https://epa.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/epa/about-us/documents/news-releases/2025/03.24.2025-IEPA-ISTC-MMAC-Report-Final.pdf

Additional press coverage

• New state recycling report shows different rates of recycling of materials, by Jess Savage for Northern Public Radio, 4/15/25.

Other projects with this client: https://tap.istc.illinois.edu/category/illinois-environmental-protection-agency-epa/

Project Title: Materials Management Advisory Committee Report to the General Assembly

Sector: State Government
Location: Illinois, Statewide
Service(s): Sustainability Planning, Stakeholder Engagement, Resilient Solutions

Background: In July 2019, Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 3068, which created the Statewide Materials Management Advisory Committee (MMAC). Coordinated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and comprised of a wide variety of recycling, composting, materials management, and solid waste professionals, the Committee was charged with investigating current recycling and solid waste practices and recommending options to the Illinois General Assembly to divert wastes from Illinois landfills. These recommendations were also meant to include improvements to the form and contents of county waste management plan required by Illinois law.

Shantanu Pai of the ISTC Technical Assistance Program (TAP) served as co-chair (along with Suzanne Boring of the Illinois EPA) for the MMAC Measurement Subcommittee. Additional subcommittees existed for education and outreach, infrastructure development, market development, and local government support. Though not official members of the MMAC or its subcommittees, TAP staff members Savannah Feher, April Janssen Mahajan, and Joy Scrogum provided support to the measurement subcommittee and to the overall efforts of the MMAC and Illinois EPA coordinating team for the achievement of the MMAC goals.

Approach: The primary purpose of the Measurement Subcommittee was to identify, capture, and evaluate existing data reflecting the state of waste and materials management in Illinois in 2018, the base year for the reported data. Using those data, the Measurement Subcommittee was tasked with developing a matrix reflecting the environmental impacts of diverting specific materials from landfills and relaying that information to the entire Committee. This data was gathered through multiple efforts, including a statewide survey sent to all Illinois counties to gather information about solid waste planning, reporting, and programs across the state, as well as outreach to all documented waste infrastructure sites across the state (including transfer stations and collection sites for landfill-bound, recyclable and compostable materials) to verify site status and details. This infrastructure information was then used to create interactive maps that allow users to access accurate and up-to-date information regarding disposal options near them.

The overall MMAC findings, along with the associated recommendations from various subcommittees, were compiled in report form and submitted to the 102nd General Assembly on July 1, 2021.

Results: The full MMAC report submitted to the Illinois General Assembly is available online at https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/waste-management/materials-management/Documents/MMAC_Report_Approved_7_1.pdf.

An ISTC blog post provided an overview of this effort.

Monitor the Illinois General Assembly website and the Illinois EPA Materials Management pages for future updates. See also the recorded Illinois Recycling Association/Illinois Recycling Foundation webinar from April 2021 in which provided an overview of the MMAC draft recommendations at that time.

Other Projects with this Client (Illinois EPA): https://tap.istc.illinois.edu/category/illinois-environmental-protection-agency-epa/