‌
‌
‌
MATERIAL MATTERS
DECEMBER 2021 NEWSLETTER
Member Spotlight
ECO PRODUCTS

Eco Products is the most recognized and authentic brand in environmentally preferable food service packaging. As category leaders, they are able to deliver expertise, benefits and services that are unavailable anywhere else on the market. As a certified B Corp, their mission is to advance Zero Waste Systems and to help customers be better stewards of the environment.

Eco Product’s “secret sauce” is their Product; along with Zero Waste Specialists, whose jobs are to make sure that compostable products stay out of landfills and to accelerate customers’ adoption of Zero Waste practices. Highly experienced in organics waste diversion, their team of Specialists understand the challenges faced by composters and haulers which makes them uniquely qualified to advance the state of waste diversion meaningfully in our region.

The Illinois Recycling Foundation is proud to have Eco Products as a member and sponsor of the recent Compostable Products Webinar. For more information about Eco Products click here.
Members of the Illinois Recycling Association enjoy the benefit of spotlighting their Business, Government, Educational Institution or Non-Profit entity in a future Newsletter. If you would like to be featured, please send an email to info@illinoisrecycles.org.
Membership Renewal Time
December 2021

Note our New Address
PO Box 411
Geneva IL 60134

Dear Members & Friends,
 
Over this past year, the first full year the Illinois Recycling Foundation has been split from the Illinois Recycling Association, all expectations were exceeded with Zoom Webinars on an array of topics ranging from Glass, Foam and Electronics to updates on Material Management recommendations to the State legislature and the Northern Illinois Climate Action Plan. An in-person tour was held of a C&D Facility along with an Annual Conference. The year will finish with webinars on Textiles and Composting.

Membership fees have been kept low and members and employees are not charged to attend educational webinars. However, to keep this programing in place and allow us to continue to serve your needs, we are asking you to renew your membership. In fact, please consider doing more by becoming a Benefactor in 2022. To truly be sustainable, we need those of you that have the ability to pitch in more, to do so now.

A Benefactor level of membership is available for $1,000. At this level, your logo will be listed on the front page of the IRF website and in each of our monthly newsletters. Your business or organization will be spotlighted in a newsletter and in at least two social media posts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) over the year. Plus you will receive all the benefits of a regular membership. For $1,350 you will also be a member of the IRA, our sister organization.

Please note that fees paid to IRF are tax deductible. The ILLINOIS RECYCLING FOUNDATION, created from IRA in 2020, is a 501c3. IRA remains a 501c6 with a focus on legislative issues, following new bills and assisting on initiatives when needed.
  
The new Illinois Recycling Foundation has big plans as the New Year begins in 2022, building on the growth achieved during its first year.  Please join us today by renewing your membership, becoming a benefactor, becoming active on a committee, sending your press releases so they can be shared on our platforms and telling us your challenges so solutions can be found to improve reuse and recycling throughout Illinois. Together, we make change possible.

IRF Board of Directors Click to JOIN/RENEW NOW!
OUR FIRST CALENDAR YEAR - 2021 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
If you couldn't attend, you missed some great ones - all informative & well-attended!
IRF Webinars alone are a good reason to join the IRF for 2022.
Events Posted on the IRF website.
JAN Glass Recycling Markets
FEB CERA Residential Electronics Webinar
APR Materials Management Advisory Council
MAY Foam Recycling Webinar
JUN Bar/Restaurant Glass Crusher Webinar
JUL C&D Recycling at TAZ/MBL - In-Person Tour
AUG Virtual Annual Conference
OCT Climate Action Plan for Chicago Region
OCT Transportation & Labor Shortages
NOV Illinois Professional Recycling Forum
DEC Textile Recycling Webinar
DEC Compostable Products Webinar
REGISTER NOW FOR NEXT WEBINARS
Webinars on CERA: Illinois Residential Electronics Recycling
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 - Government Focus
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - Collector Focus
If you are a County with an interest in the State CERA law or a commercial electronics recycler wishing to learn how to assist counties or clients with residential electronic recycling, save these dates! There will be two presentations, to assist both groups' individual needs with the goal of enhancing electronic recycling service for all.
A Note from the President, .
Marta Keane

If you have been a member of the IRF this past year, our inaugural year, thank you for your support and faith in us to deliver services you value. We have delivered with a dozen programs from webinars and an in-person tour, to a conference that earned praise for market info and future planning. Please consider increasing your contribution to us for 2022 - become a BENEFACTOR to give us the foundation we need to succeed. If you are not able to do so through your employer, consider a personal donation in a smaller amount on top of your membership, or give of your time by becoming involved in a committee. We are stronger and more effective through both financial and participation contributions. If you are receiving this newsletter, but not a member, join or donate today!

Wishing each of you the blessings of the holiday season throughout the new year!
David Van Voren, Executive Director of SWANCC, has announced his retirement after serving 23 northern Cook County communities for 10 years. After a national search, Christina Seibert, an Illinois professional, was selected. Christina graduated from the University of Iowa who has been active in solid waste planning and recycling for over 20 years, serving on several statewide committees over the years..
MADISON COUNTY OPENS
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE
The Illinois EPA is funding the fifth permanent residential Household Hazardous Waste site disposal cost at the first downstate permanent site which opened this past month in partnership with Madison County. IEPA currently contracts with Heritage Environmental to provide disposal, recycling and treatment for the wastes collected in this program. The other four HHW sites are located in Naperville, Rockford, Chicago and Gurney. These sites give residents the ability to take poisons, fire hazards and other dangerous substances from their homes for proper handling while keeping them out of Illinois landfills. 

The US EPA published the National Recycling Strategy, subtitled “Part one of a series on building a circular economy for all.” Click to read the RR article here
Legislative Update
It is going to be a fast season this year in Springfield. We should take a moment to celebrate some victories of the past session, including:
SB 1089 for Construction & Demolition PASSED
HB 653 for Groundwater Protection at Quarries PASSED
HR 293 calls for 30% of Trucks and Buses to be emission free PASSED

Please know the IRA is closely following rulemaking by the Illinois Pollution Control Board per the C&D law that passed. They are also monitoring new bills as they are being introduced, including a Packaging EPR bill from Rep Avelar, the expected return of the Carpet EPR legislation, and any others deemed of interest to members of IRA. To be a member of both IRF and IRA, join at the $500 level.
Great story in Waste Dive about the
National Zero Waste Conference!

How local governments & haulers need to
understand what’s coming for reuse.

MULTIFAMILY RECYCLING CAN BE CHALLENGING

If you, or your organization is working to impliment or improve multifamily recycling, you should know the Recycling Partnership has developed resources to assist in setting up sustainable & efficient programs.

IRF has added this link to our website resources. 
RRS Job Postings. Recycling, Sustainability and Waste Management Jobs

Diageo makes glass packaging for high end liquors and is striving to increase recycled content. Click to learn about their variety of positions.

LRS (aka: Lakeshore Recycling Systems) has a variety of jobs available in Illinois and elsewhere. Click here for a full list of opportunities.

Republic Services is also looking to fill positions throughout Illinois and beyond. Please click here to begin your search.

WM (aka: Waste Management) has open positions at many locations, they are listed here.

Members are welcome to send us their postings and we will include them at no charge.
THANK YOU TO THESE EARLY SUPPORTERS WHO HAVE
ALREADY JOINED THE ILLINOIS RECYCLING FOUNDATION FOR 2022
A-Team Recyclers
Com2 Recycling Solutions
Chicago Textile Recycling
Eco Products
Fortune Metal
GDB International
City of Geneva
Green Zone
Helping Hands
Midland Davis
Susan Paus-Gortowski
PCs for People
RRS
Shedd Aquarium
Strategic Materials Inc
[Your Name Here] - Join / Renew Today!
The Plastic Bag Store is coming to Chicago!

January 20-30, 2022
The Wrigley Building, 410 N Michigan Ave
Ground Level Storefront on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile

The Plastic Bag Store is the feature attraction of the
2022 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. 

"New York artist Robin Frohardt’s tragi-comic ode to the foreverness of plastic appears to be a storefront grocery, but it’s actually stocked with hundreds of hand-made items—fruits, vegetables, sushi, deli meats and more — all crafted from organic NYC trash.

Several times a day, the Store transforms from an installation into a micro-cinema for a series of dynamic puppet-films that transport the audience from the distant past into a dystopian future. With her distinct sense of humor, Frohardt challenges us to think about how future generations will misinterpret us by the waste we leave behind."

Learn more about The Plastic Bag Store HERE, including a video tour by the artist.

Store visits are free and appropriate for all ages.

Tickets to timed film screenings: $30 Regular, $20 Students
Film running time: 60 minutes. The film is appropriate for ages 8 and up.
From all of us at the
Illinois Recycling Foundation & Illinois Recycling Association
RECENT RECYCLING NEWS

Apple Unveils Self Service Repair Program. For the first time, Apple is assisting customers that are comfortable completing their own repairs to access Apple genuine parts and tools.

The dormant Robbins Trash Incinerator with partial recycling MRF has become the subject of an new proposal. If it is adopted, the facility could produce National Gas and Fertilizer.

$2M Recycling Demonstration Project! Recycling of E-Bike batteries, EV batteries and more. Click to learn about this fascinating and promising effort.

US Wastes More Than a Third of its Food.

64% of Americans Don't Fully Understand Local Recycling Policies

The Indiana Recycling Coalition has changed its name to Circular Indiana. The nonprofit says with the rebranding, it is expanding beyond recycling by aligning itself with “the changing landscape of sustainable materials management.”

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM
@illinoisrecycles
“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things:
a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled tree lights.”
Maya Angelou
Illinois Recycling Foundation / Illinois Recycling Association, PO Box 411, Geneva IL 60134
708 358 0050
info@illinoisrecycles.org