Launch of New Lake County Recycling Campaign
Aims To Boost Participation and Reduce Contamination
GURNEE, Ill.—An innovative campaign to boost curbside recycling among Lake County residents in North Chicago, Waukegan and Zion neighborhoods will kick off this month, urging them to improve even more, the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) announced today.
Key elements of the campaign include:
- Recycling cart checking and tagging programs to provide real-time feedback and promote proper recycling habits.
- Modifying and expanding educational resources to serve a wider, multilingual audience.
- Community education and outreach aimed at reducing contamination and increasing recycling participation.
“We look forward to helping Lake County residents get more materials into their recycling containers,” said Walter Willis, executive director of SWALCO.
“Many Lake County residents are already doing a fantastic job, and we want to help them understand how they can do even better,” Willis said.
“We will be encouraging our residents to really rethink the way they dispose of waste in their home and, by doing so, motivate them to recycle more. The good news is that it’s never been easier to recycle more of the glass, paper, cardboard, metal, plastics, and other materials we use every day.”
SWALCO is a municipal joint action agency that serves 43 municipalities, including Lake County and the Naval Station Great Lakes, which includes approximately 230,000 households. SWALCO and its municipal government members are implementing and measuring the grassroots education campaign, which is designed to increase awareness for curbside recycling, grow participation, and ultimately boost volume.
Education tactics for the SWALCO campaign include marketing, an enhanced Web and social media presence, advertising, public relations, and grassroots, community-level outreach. SWALCO will measure the impact of the campaign and issue a report upon its completion.
The rollout of the recycling improvement effort will begin Wednesday, Oct. 8, in Zion, followed by a start on Friday, Oct. 10, in Waukegan, and on a date to be determined for 2026 in North Chicago.
“Our team members will be looking at the recyclables and tagging residents’ recycling carts with information on incorrect practices they observe, such as mistakenly putting recyclables into plastic bags rather than depositing them loosely in the container without plastic bags,” Willis said.
“We invite Lake County residents to feel free to engage the SWALCO team member in conversation to learn more about how recycling benefits people and the planet by reducing landfill waste, conserving natural resources, saving energy, and much more.”
The SWALCO campaign is funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which announced a $2 million grant in 2024 to support the Chicago Metro Recycling Education and Outreach (REO) campaign. This REO grant is the largest EPA investment in Illinois recycling in over three decades. The campaign’s goal is to increase the collection of recyclable materials and decrease contamination of the recycling stream in the Chicagoland region.
SWALCO received a subaward from REO to lead targeted recycling education efforts within Lake County, and has hired Frank Pettis, founder of environmental consulting firm GreenLit Solutions, to focus on improving recycling practices in North Chicago, Waukegan, and Zion.
Visit swalco.org to learn more about SWALCO’s reuse and recycling programs. To learn more about the Chicago Metro Recycling Education and Outreach Campaign, click here.
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About SWALCO
The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, Ill. (SWALCO) is a municipal joint action agency responsible for developing and implementing a regional solid waste management plan for its 43 municipal members, including the County of Lake and Naval Station Great Lakes. Formed in 1991, SWALCO represents approximately 85 percent of the county’s population. Its mission is to implement a regional solid waste management plan; facilitate an efficient, reliable, and environmentally sound waste disposal system; advise and assist its members regarding solid waste management issues; educate the public regarding implications of solid waste management options; and identify, evaluate and disseminate information regarding techniques to reduce, reuse and recycle the amount of solid waste generated. For more information, visit swalco.org.
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