DeKalb County’s Recycling Rates Remain High

The Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act required counties to develop comprehensive waste management plans, and the DeKalb County Health Department was given the responsibility to administer the plan in 1995 by the County Board. The program is funded by tipping fees on waste deposited in the landfill. The revenue supports a variety of initiatives to include rural recycling drop-off sites; latex paint, motor oil and holiday light recycling events; education programs for individuals, businesses, and nearly 5,000 County elementary students; collaboration with municipalities for electronics recycling, and more.

DeKalb County’s comprehensive recycling achieved an overall 51% recycling rate for 2013. Removing construction and demolition debris, a 50% recycling rate is achieved. These rates are down a bit when compared to last year. “This rate continues to exceed the State’s 25 percent recycling goal by a significant margin”, says Christel Springmire, Solid Waste Coordinator.

The County will continue to monitor its recycling rate on an annual basis and recognizes the commitment of the residents and businesses to recycle and reduce waste. The report also gave a landfill rate of 4.26 pounds per day per person, less than the national rate of 4.4 pounds per day per person. This rate is calculated by the total pounds landfilled each year divided by the total DeKalb County population divided by 365 days. Since over half of the county’s waste is from commercial sources, the landfill rate is not meant to be a literal per person amount. Rather, it is a measurement that can be compared year- to-year and between counties in order to track progress. The complete report can viewed at the DeKalb County Health Department website: health.dekalbcounty.org