Residents of Waukegan, North Chicago, Gurnee and 12 other Lake County communities will have the opportunity to place plastic items like bags, Styrofoam, bubble wrap and more into a special orange bag and then into their recycling containers this fall.
Walter Willis, the executive director of the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO), said his organization is working with LRS and communities it serves in Lake County to provide recycling of previously unrecyclable items.
“Basically, it’s anything you can smash, like plastic bags,” Willis said.
Hefty ReNew orange bags are placed inside a regular recycle bin. (Reynolds Consumer Products)
SWALCO is collaborating with LRS and Reynolds Consumer Products to begin the Hefty ReNew Orange Bag Program this fall in select Lake County communities to make it easier for people to get hard-to-recycle products turned into usable goods.
Willis said when the bags are available at local retailers this fall, LRS customers can place items like plastic bags, Styrofoam containers, bubble wrap and other pliable plastic items inside.
“Nothing rigid should go in there,” Willis said.
Once the orange bag is full, Willis said people can should fasten it and place it inside their regular recycle container. LRS will take it to its Northbrook plant, from where the plastics will ultimately go to manufacturers where they will be made into useful products.
“They’re making them into plastic lumber, blocks and park benches,” Willis said. “It all works very well. A lot of decks are made with plastic lumber now.”
Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said at the May 20 City Council meeting filling 36 of the orange bags contains enough plastic to build a park bench. It increases the amount of plastics which can be recycled.
“You will fill that with the particular plastic items, like the packaging you get from Amazon and that stuff,” Taylor said. “This is moving us toward sustainability. In a city Waukegan’s size, we need to become environmentally conscious and step up and do this.”
North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr., whose city also uses LRS’ services, said he is excited the opportunity will be coming to his city. Keeping plastics out of landfills and turning them into useful products has a variety of benefits.
“Ever since we started recycling, it’s been a win not just for Lake County, but the entire country,” Rockingham said. “Recycling these things keeps them out of landfills, where they could sit for thousands of years without decomposing.”
West Deerfield Township has a receptacle for textiles which go to SWALCO. Township Supervisor Alyson Feiger said she is happy the orange bags will be able to go in the container once the program launches.
“West Deerfield Township is happy to participate in the effort of SWALCO and LRS to work toward a greener county,” Feiger said “This is very cool.”
Though the Hefty ReNew orange bags have been available for several years, Willis said the program was not available to Lake County residents because there was no material recovery center (MRF) to sort the plastics so they can go to the next step in the manufacturing process.
Since LRS has a MRF in Northbrook, Willis said there is now a facility convenient to Lake County communities. He began coordinating with LRS and Hefty to bring the service to as many county locations as possible.
“The key to being able to do this is you have to have a MRF that can pick up and deliver the plastic,” Willis said. “You have to have a MRF to get it on the way to the end market.”
Along with Waukegan, North Chicago, Gurnee and West Deerfield Township, Willis said Highland Park, Highwood, Deerfield, Lake Villa, Bannockburn, Riverwoods, Lincolnshire, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Moraine Township and Shields Township are participants.
