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MATERIAL MATTERS
MAY 2022 NEWSLETTER
Member Spotlight
Strategic Materials

With over a 100-year history, Strategic Materials is North America’s largest and most comprehensive glass recycler, with nearly 50 locations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company focus has been and continues to be on creating value for customers through innovation and continuous improvement. The company is a technology partner to cleaner, more efficient glass production, providing customers and suppliers with economical and environmentally viable solutions for reuse of waste streams including glass and plastic. For more information visit www.strategicmaterials.com.
Members of the Illinois Recycling Foundation 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.
CALL FOR SPONSORS / EXHIBITORS
Joliet Junior College
All Day Programs Tuesday August 30th
Half-Day Programs Wednesday August 31st
Afternoon Tours Wednesday August 31st
IEPA Announces Notice of Funding Opportunity for
County Solid Waste Planning

$500,000 Available to Assist in Implementing
Solid Waste Planning Obligations

The Illinois EPA is offering Counties $5,000 to update their state required Solid Waste Plans. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, conducting a local solid waste and materials
management needs assessment, surveying local solid waste and materials management
stakeholders to determine programmatic expansion viability, internally authoring solid waste
management plan updates, or procuring consulting services to prepare solid waste
management plan updates. Click for the Full Press Release
TACKLING THE PLASTIC ISSUE

There is a new national group seeking to reduce plastic use: Beyond Plastics. Based at Bennington College in Vermont, they are listing organizations across the US that are working individually and collectively to tackle plastic pollution. With a goal of connecting individual grassroots groups with environmental organizations to work on plastic pollution, Beyond Plastic urges interested persons to view their guides: How to Form a Beyond Plastics Local Group and How to Become a Beyond Plastics Affiliate, and to peruse the map of Local Groups & Affiliates to see if it may be possible to join an existing group or better to form a new one.
ReThinking Waste

Don't miss out on our June webinar.
Join us as we explore the various ways in which "trash" has been re-examined and waste diverted through out-of-the box creativity. Three unique approaches to tackle a myriad of materials.

Tuesday - June 21st, 2022
10:00 am
CONFERENCE SESSION TOPICS AND SPEAKERS
The Annual Illinois Recycling Foundation Conference will be held in Joliet on August 30 and 31. We want to hear from you about the topics and speakers you are most excited to see. While we expect to continue our tradition of offering market information on the standard curbside items, and some of the challenging materials, we also want to know your desires. From Bottle Bills to EPR, Battery Issues to Compost and Chemical Recycling Claims. The US and Illinois EPAs will also be offering some presentations. Email us at info@illinoisrecycles.com with your suggestions.
Legislative Update from IRA
With local legislators in full re-election mode, and the session ended, some bills await the governor's signature. There may be a few meetings on bills that did not pass that may be held over the summer in hopes of passage in the Fall veto session, Paint Stewardship and Carpet included.
PACKAGING EPR

While the Illinois Product Stewardship Council has been working on EPR for Packaging with Representative Avelar, the State of Colorado has become poised to be the third U.S. state to pass a comprehensive Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law that will significantly increase paper and packaging recycling. Spearheaded by Representative Lisa Cutter and Senators Julie Gonzales and Kevin Priola with support from Recycle Colorado, the Producer Responsibility Program for Recycling bill (HB22-1355) passed both the House and Senate and has been sent to their Governor. Colorado’s combined recycling and composting rate is just 15%, less than half the national recycling and composting rate. The new law will make a significant impact: Over 40 countries and provinces around the world have tracked two decades of success with similar EPR programs – resulting in packaging recycling rates as high as 80%. Stay tuned with the latest Illinois version to be released.
CARPET EPR PASSES IN NEW YORK

Each year, New York state sends 515 million pounds of unused or discarded carpet to fill up New York landfills or be burned in waste-to-energy plants. Local governments and businesses spend more than $22 million annually to dispose of it. The law will establish mandatory goals for recycling and post-consumer content in new carpet, convenient collection statewide, education and awareness, and the phase out of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals from new carpet production. It will establish a multi-stakeholder advisory board to advise producers and the state, which oversees the program. Requiring carpet producers to finance and manage the collection and recycling of scrap carpet removes the financial burden of managing this bulky material from local governments and taxpayers and will reduce the energy needed to make new carpet, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and saving valuable natural resources.
A Note from the President, Marta Keane

Please be aware that we have been very active this past month, since the conference venue committee selected a site for our first in-person conference in two years and our first two-day conference in more than five years! Besides this effort, our Administrator that we dearly appreciate, Gloria, has asked us to replace her. She has been with us over 5 years when she only signed on for 3! Most exciting, the Board of Directors decided to return to a full time contracted Executive Director in order to serve you, our members, better. We anticipate announcing a selection by the end of this month so they may begin training with Gloria over the summer and take the helm on Sept 1. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know. Also, tell us your news so we can share it here or on our social media outlets. We are proud of our members waste reduction, material reuse, recycling and composting accomplishments!
BLOG POST HIGHLIGHTS RECYCLING SERVICE ISSUES

The Recycling Partnership recently posted a blog that is worth the read if you ever wonder why there is a focus on a lack of recycling opportunities and the issues of plastic recovery. "The reason it isn’t working at full scale is because we haven’t built it that way…yet. We don’t have a recycling system – we have a cobbled together network." Click to check it out in full!
PHOTOS. PHOTOS. WE NEED LOTS AND LOTS OF PHOTOS

In an effort to do more on social media and alter make our website more reflective of our members, we are asking IRF Members to send generic photos of their recycling operations. Pictures can be of office collection, residential drop-off, MRF sorting lines, curbside service, someone placing items in recycle bins, reuse events, compost operations, etc. Please send jpeg/jpg pictures to info@illinoisrecycles.org.
SEND US YOUR POSTINGS

Nearly every business member and many government and institutional members have job openings. They are actually too numerous to list all, so please visit the IRF Membership Directory and find member's websites to see the jobs currently awaiting interested applicants. Job postings are currently posted on the IRF website from IRF members RRS, U of I, Ogle County & Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. Click here for all details.
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE JOINED THE
ILLINOIS RECYCLING FOUNDATION FOR 2022
(It's not too late to add your name)
SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR 2022 IRF BENEFACTORS
Consider adding your logo here. Become a 2022 BENEFACTOR for $1000.
If you have already joined and would like to upgrade to this status, send an email to info@illinoisrecycles.org.
Has Your Membership Expired?
All members that did not renew have been removed from our Website Membership Directory, the most popular search page on our website for folks involved in offering reuse, recycling, and composting services. We thrive on offering informative webinars, access to an amazing array of professionals and sharing our newsletters that not only include updates on legislative actions and industry innovations but features on our members. Membership fees are affordable but we need all members to renew.

Make a difference, Click to JOIN or RENEW!

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM
@illinoisrecycles
"If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn't thinking."
George S Patton
Illinois Recycling Foundation / Illinois Recycling Association, PO Box 411, Geneva IL 60134
708 358 0050
info@illinoisrecycles.org