PRESS RELEASE: For immediate release July 13, 2020
Contact: Michael Brown 309-454-3169 x.11
McLean County’s recycling rate stayed relatively steady from 2018 to 2019 with only a 1.4% decline. The Ecology Action Center’s annual calculation of community-wide waste generation and recycling shows that the County reached a recycling rate of 45.74%, dropping from the all-time high of 46.44%. As a result, the County maintained progress towards the new community-wide recycling rate goal of 50% set in 2017 under the new 20-year solid waste management plan. No single category of recyclable materials saw significant fluctuations from the year prior, while there were minor fluctuations across the board in all material streams.
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Total MSW Recycled (tons) | 73,833 | 85,196 | 81,302 | 83,335 | 88,459 | 94,804 | 88,330 |
| Total MSW Landfilled (tons) | 121,991 | 141,068 | 154,662 | 120,815 | 124,364 | 109,467 | 104,772 |
| Total Municipal Solid Waste Generated (tons) | 195,824 | 226,264 | 235,964 | 204,150 | 211,230 | 204,271 | 193,102 |
| Percent Change from Previous Year | 6.96% | 15.54% | 4.29% | -13.48% | 3.47% | -3.29% | -5.47% |
| Recycling Rate | 37.70% | 37.65% | 34.46% | 40.82% | 41.88% | 46.41% | 45.74% |
| Percent Change from Previous Year | 3.43% | -0.13% | -8.49% | 18.47% | 2.59% | 10.82% | -1.44% |
With the closure of the McLean County Landfill in late 2018, the Ecology Action Center continues to focus on waste management priorities as outlined in the Twenty-Year Materials Recovery and Resource Management Plan for McLean County, Bloomington, and Normal, Illinois. This includes diversion strategies for waste that would otherwise require landfill disposal further away from the source of origin. The impact of the new multifamily recycling ordinance in Normal was undetermined as of yet with only a partial year of the program activity.
McLean County waste rates are converging
The Ecology Action Center annually collects waste and recycling data to calculate the amount of municipal solid waste generated and recycled for all of McLean County as a lagging indicator of the impact of local recycling and outreach programs. Among other services, the EAC acts as the solid waste agency for Bloomington, Normal, and McLean County and provides technical assistance, recycling promotion, household hazardous waste coordination, education and outreach.
Information on residential recycling, recycling of nontraditional materials, and information on disposal of household hazardous wastes is available by calling (309) 454-3169 or visiting ecologyactioncenter.org. Find comprehensive online listings for recycling and waste disposal at RecycleBN.org.
