Tag: Solid Waste Management

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Cook County Solid Waste Management Plan 2024-2029

Project Title: Cook County Solid Waste Management Plan 2024-2029

Sector: Local Governments

Location: Cook County, IL

Services: Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability Planning, Waste Reduction/Management

Background: The Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act (415 ILCS 15/) requires counties to develop an initial solid waste management plan (SWMP) and subsequent plan updates “that place substantial emphasis on recycling and other alternatives to landfills, to encourage municipal recycling and source reduction, and to promote composting of yard waste.” Having worked previously with TAP on a variety of projects and proposals, representatives of the Cook County Department of Environmental Sustainability (DES) reached out to TAP for assistance with writing their updated SWMP for 2024-2029.

Approach: DES and TAP staff reviewed the status of goals and recommendations included in the 2018 Cook County SWMP Update, and discussed the County’s current aspirations, challenges, priorities, and data needs to track progress and formulate recommendations. Data for this update was sourced from internal County program reports, waste haulers, municipal surveys, regional reports, state reports, census information, and research compiled by TAP. DES and TAP reviewed current research, analysis, and best practices from regional, state, and national programs to inform plan revision as well as potential new actions. DES also developed the Cook County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives from local solid waste authorities, non-profits, institutions, corporations, recyclers, and the City of Chicago. This committee met regularly with DES and TAP to discuss ideas for preventing, reducing, and managing solid waste, to review waste generation data gathered by DES staff from covered municipalities, and to review plan drafts and suggested recommendations. Finally, DES staff held several meetings with other environmental advocacy organizations, municipal officials, non-profit organizations, recyclers, academic professionals, state and national organizations, and other related stakeholders to inform the plan update.

Cook County is committed to implementing, promoting, and expanding zero waste and circular economy best practices over the next five years and in line with the Illinois Materials Management Advisory Committee Report, which sets the goal of achieving a 45% suburban Cook County diversion rate by 2030.

Results: The updated “Cook County Solid Waste Management Plan 2024-2029: The Path Toward Zero Waste and A Circular Economy” plan recommends actions to reduce the climate impact of solid waste and provides direction for Cook County’s waste prevention, reduction, reassembly, remanufacturing, reuse, repair, repurpose, recycling, composting, collection, and other solid waste related investments, policies and practices over the next five years. The updated plan sets forth 43 recommendations for 16 major areas of focus that will help move the zero waste and circular economy systems in Cook County forward. 

The recommendations are based on the data presented in the updated plan and the feedback received from members of the Cook County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, local and state partners, environmental advocacy organizations, and members of the public. The recommendations represent programs and efforts the County can reasonably implement over the next five years that will help push the County towards achieving its new goal of 45% waste diversion rate by 2030. 

 

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Materials Management Advisory Committee Report to the General Assembly

Illinois EPA logo

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/

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University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Sustainable Materials Management Plan

UIC SMM plan coverProject Title: University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan

Sector: Higher Education
Location: Chicago, IL
Services: Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Resilient Solutions, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability Planning, Waste Characterization and Management

Background: UIC engaged the ISTC Technical Assistance Program zero waste team to conduct a waste characterization study and assist with the development of a sustainable materials management plan.

Approach: Beginning in 2019, many stakeholders observed current waste management practices and coordinated and conducted a waste characterization study to represent campus-wide activities. Study results and annual material generation data were analyzed and extrapolated, campus focus groups were held to provide input for ideal material management, and the research and recommendations were collated into one comprehensive plan to increase waste diversion and ultimately achieve a zero-waste campus.

UIC partnered with TAP to conduct the waste audit, engage stakeholders, and spearhead plan development. The plan identifies nearly 100 strategies for waste reduction and diversion and was informed by the results of a November 2019 waste audit, along with insightful input received from students, faculty, staff, and community members.

The waste characterization study included more than 3,300 pounds of trash from 14 buildings and outdoor campus collection bins sorted into 32 material categories.

The audit team used an activity zone approach to capture waste from buildings by use, such as administrative offices, academic and lab settings, student residence halls, and multi-use spaces.

Landfill and recycling bins from various outdoor areas of campus, such as along internal walking paths, busy urban corridors, and in parking structures, comprised an “On-the-go” activity zone. The study team and an enthusiastic group of student, staff, and faculty volunteers sorted the waste over the course of a wintery week.

Co-led by ISTC, and UIC’s Office of Planning Sustainability and Project Management (PSPM), a team of staff, faculty, and students from various departments, external partners and industry experts developed the Sustainable Materials Management Plan.

Together team members worked to document and understand current waste management practices and analyzed waste generation. The Plan categorizes campus waste to show what is avoidable, currently recyclable, compostable, potentially recyclable, and non-recoverable.

The data revealed that 33% of the overall waste stream on campus is compostable material, such as food scraps. Nineteen percent of the waste stream is composed of recyclable materials such as paper or plastic bottles. Eighteen percent of the waste stream on campus consists of avoidable materials such as paper towels and disposable beverage cups. Five percent of the waste stream is comprised of potentially recyclable material such as plastic film and gloves that could be diverted through source-separated streams.

The remaining 24% of the waste stream consists of materials that are currently non-recoverable, i.e. items for which recovery end markets or programs do not yet exist, or for which solutions are not yet available at UIC or in surrounding areas. This includes items like single-use equipment and other non-recyclable paper, glass and plastic items.

“Data has been a critical part of our success in reaching almost a 50% recycling rate at UIC over the past decade, even while the number of students on campus has grown by 20%. With the help of data, the recycling program at UIC has vanquished a once prevalent view that Chicago doesn’t recycle. With the report from the ISTC led waste audit, the volume of food scraps, and the presence of currently recyclable materials point to impactful steps we must take in waste reduction, outreach, and education,” stated Joe Iosbaker, UIC’s Recycling Coordinator.

Bar graph showing the percentage of various types of materials present in the UIC waste stream during the November 2019 waste audit

The study team also gathered input from members of the campus community through an online survey and a series of focus groups. Discussions shed light on knowledge, perceptions, and expectations of waste management infrastructure, the overall campus culture surrounding resource recovery, waste-related priorities, and challenges. This feedback from the UIC community was used to develop strategies to increase recycling and waste reduction. Through this multi-layer process, UIC now has a comprehensive roadmap to build from the 47% recycling rate today and prime the conditions for a zero-waste campus by 2050.

“The comprehensive presentation in the Materials Management Plan provided by ISTC gives us a greater understanding of the tasks we have,” Iosbaker asserted. Assistant Vice-Chancellor and Director of Sustainability Cindy Klein-Banai reinforced those sentiments stating, “This study has provided the data and next steps for robust strategies for reaching our Zero Waste Goal within the UIC Climate Commitments. It also demonstrates the need for broad responsibility in developing our program across all units and departments of the university.”

“ISTC’s Zero Waste team acknowledges the great potential of a comprehensive, campus-driven Sustainable Materials Management Plan,” shared April Janssen Mahajan, Sustainability Specialist at ISTC. “We fully embraced the challenges and opportunities this project offered to help UIC reconsider, reimagine and redefine campus waste and materials management in support of the university’s mission to become a Zero Waste Campus.”

Results: UIC Sustainable Materials Management Plan

Other projects with this client: None at this time

Other projects in the higher education sector: https://tap.istc.illinois.edu/category/higher-education/

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Waste Transfer Station Data Management and Tracking System

Project Title: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Waste Transfer Station Data Management and Tracking System

Sector: Higher Education
Location: Champaign-Urbana, IL
Services: Implementation Assistance, Process Optimization, Resilient Solutions, Waste Characterization/Reduction/Management

Background: Members of the ISTC Technical Assistance Program (TAP) zero waste team were engaged by the University of Illinois Facilities and Services (F&S) to better understand and optimize operations at the waste transfer station located on campus.

Approach: In 2018, TAP worked with F&S staff to digitize collection truck weight tickets and create a new online tracking portal, in collaboration with the University of Illinois Administrative Information Technology Services (AITS), for use by the campus Waste Transfer Station (WTS). The portal, rolled out in December 2018, allows WTS staff to measure, analyze, and report on the material moving through the system. This level of detail can allow targeted modifications to hauling routes, pickup frequency, and collection container deployment to improve capture of specific waste streams, as well as provide data to inform potential outreach efforts and policy changes.

TAP also worked with Loadman Systems to pilot real-time truck scale collection systems, with the ultimate goal of truck route optimization.

Results: As of summer 2021, the project has led to reducing a whole garbage truck from the fleet and increasing operational efficiency by over 40%.

Other projects with this client: https://tap.istc.illinois.edu/category/university-of-illinois-urbana-champaign/