McLean County’s recycling rate reached 51% in 2024, making it the first time ever that over roughly half of the waste generated in the county was recycled. This is a big milestone for McLean County and one of the major goals for the first quarter (2017-2022) of the 2017 Twenty-Year Solid Waste Management Plan. McLean County is well ahead of the national recycling average of 32%, set in 2018, and has met the Environmental Protection Agency’s goal of a 50% national recycling rate by 2030. The next phase of the Solid Waste Management Plan includes an automatic increase of the recycling rate goal to 60% by 2027.
During 2024, McLean County saw a 5% increase of total waste generation; however, less waste was landfilled and almost 15% more waste was recycled than the previous year. Areas of increase include construction and demolition material, textiles, and organics.
The local construction and demolition recycling center, which also handles bulk waste from Bloomington and Normal, had a large uptick in material processing during 2024. More textiles were recycled in 2024 including quilted mattress covers by mattress recycler, Kern Mattress Outlet, who’s working to expand their local recycling efforts through an initiative called Kernovate. Both Bloomington and Normal recycled more brush and leaves last year and the Ecology Action Center’s Community Composting program collected 57.4 tons of food waste, a 23% increase from 2023.
Some areas of decrease include paper recycling which may partly be due to the overall reduction in paper waste as print media and classroom materials continue to transition to digital platforms. Additionally, improved manufacturing quality at large scale facilities has also led to significantly fewer materials, like lithium-ion batteries and glass, from entering the recycling stream. Following market trends, we also saw a decrease in metal material being recycled in 2024 versus 2023.
The Ecology Action Center annually collects waste and recycling data to calculate the amount of municipal solid waste generated and recycled in 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 and community recycling programs, recycling of nontraditional materials, and information on disposal of household hazardous wastes is available by calling 309-454-3169 or visiting ecologyactioncenter.org. Learn more about the 20-Year Materials Recovery and Resource Management Plan for Bloomington, Normal, and McLean County, Illinois on the EAC website.
