Press release from the city of Highwood.
HIGHWOOD – The City of Highwood has announced it will be the first municipality in Illinois to require curbside organics collection for both commercial and residential services.
Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS), Chicagoland’s leading independent recycling and waste diversion services provider, was awarded the residential and the commercial contracts for solid waste removal; with the residential contract going into effect in Spring 2017, and commercial services beginning Jan. 1, 2016.
The year-round organics program will include food scraps and yard waste comingled in a separate third cart provided to each customer. Residents will be provided a 96-gallon recycling cart, a 65-gallon garbage cart and a 35-gallon organics cart. Commercial customers will be able to adjust their third bin based on their waste production. LRS will transport the organics to one of two available facilities where it will be recycled into compost.
“We are excited to team up with LRS to provide an additional solid waste collection service to our residents and businesses,” said Molly Keane, Management Assistant for Highwood. “We realize the size and density of our community makes us a great candidate to implement an encompassing organics program like this. It will require a lot of education on the City’s part; we have to rethink what we consider garbage and understand where our waste goes.”
The City hopes this effort will provide long-term benefits to their residents and businesses as the cost of organic collection decreases and garbage collection increases. “LRS is thrilled to be selected by the City of Highwood and we look forward to kicking off commercial services beginning in January,” said Managing Partner Joshua B. Connell. “Highwood residents and businesses will benefit from our service efficiency and technology innovation, including our embedded RFID chip technology on every bin to ensure service verification. In regards to organic recycling, Highwood residents will have the ability to combine food scraps with their yard waste in one recycling bin that we then turn into compost.”
In addition to the City of Highwood, LRS has won the service contracts of other leading Chicago north shore communities, including: Highland Park, Deerfield, Riverwoods, Bannockburn, Skokie and Golf.