The Illinois EPA partnered with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center to create the report. That's because when items aren't properly recycled, they can make their way into the waste stream to contribute to water and air emissions issues.
Illinois successfully recycles about 30 percent of the materials that enter the stream — in 2025, the agency hopes it’s 40 percent.
At the same time, the report found that some metals are recycled at rates as high as 80 percent.
James Jennings is the acting director of the agency. He said that the single-stream system, which is common in Illinois, might not be the most efficient program. That’s when all recyclable items go into one bin to be sorted at a facility.
“What you saw in this report," Jennings said, "and what we've seen nationally, is that there's a growing body of evidence to suggest that perhaps single stream recycling is not necessarily the preferred approach in a system that really is dependent on a clean stream of material."
When the materials that enter the recycling system aren’t clean, single stream recycling programs become more expensive and more difficult.
The report finds that more recyclers and local governments are interested in programs other than single stream that more effectively recycle more material.
Jennings also explained why the agency is invested in a report like this one.
“Recycling is not something that we directly regulate as a matter of state law," said Jennings, "but it is an area that directly impacts a lot of our work, because things that are not properly recycled ultimately make their way into the waste stream to contribute to water and air emissions issues.”
The next step, which starts later this year, is to conduct a needs assessment to identify specific holes in the state’s recycling infrastructure. The agency also appropriated more than two million dollars in next year’s budget to increase and improve organic and food waste programs.