A Look at Kane County’s 2015 Solid Waste Management Plan
- This is the first of a series of articles on Kane County’s recently updated Solid Waste Management Plan, which includes 20 recommendations in 11 categories: Waste Minimization, Recycling, Ordinance Enforcement, Organics, Textiles, Construction and Demolition, Electronics, Household Hazardous Waste, Infrastructure, Alternative Technologies, and Public Information and Education.
Maybe the first thing you need to know about Kane County’s 2015 Solid Waste Management Plan is that it has a big impact on your daily life. It looks at such things as recycling, garbage collection and landfill use, and it has an effect on your pocketbook, your environment and your future.
Maybe the second thing you need to know is that Kane County does a pretty good job of keeping the costs low.
If you look at what it costs most counties to simply update a Solid Waste Management Plan, you get an idea of the bargain Kane County taxpayers got this year.
The update process, mandated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, can be costly for counties that contract with consultants to complete the research and data analysis required for the plan. In fact, for their last updates, some neighboring counties spent as much as $40,000 on consultants’ fees. Kane County completed the 2015 update in-house, through partnership between The Division of Environmental Resources and the Development & Community Services Department, at basically no additional cost.
A Brief History of the Solid Waste Plan
The Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act (415 ILCS 15/) 1988, required all Illinois counties to plan for the management of solid waste generated within their borders. Kane County adopted its first Solid Waste Management Plan in 1992, and has since adopted required updates in 1997, 2004, and 2009.
The revised Kane County Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Plan Update was adopted by Kane County Board on July 14, 2015.
This 2015 update is more thorough than the past updates. It was informed by a complete review of the original Kane County plan, subsequent updates and plans from neighboring counties, in addition to research into best practices from local, regional, state and national programs and trends.
The 2015 plan is a big deal, detailing current waste management, recycling and reuse opportunities in Kane County and Illinois, while also offering a survey of best practices and future goals. The plan update makes no less than 20 recommendations in 11 categories: Waste Minimization, Recycling, Ordinance Enforcement, Organics, Textiles, Construction and Demolition, Electronics, Household Hazardous Waste, Infrastructure, Alternative Technologies, and Public Information and Education.
About This Series
Jennifer Jarland, Kane County’s recycling coordinator and primary author of the plan, is writing this series of articles on topics associated with implementing the recommendations, such as promoting food scrap composting, textile/clothes recycling, electronics recycling and minimizing waste.
We’ll post an article a week and provide links to previous articles so that you can follow along.
If you have any questions at any time, please feel free to call Kane County Recycling Coordinator Jennifer Jarland at 630-208-3841 or recycle@countyofkane.org.
More information can be found on the recycling pages of the Kane County website.
The 2015 Kane County Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Plan Update can be viewed at: www.countyofkane.org/Recycling/Pages/solidWastePlan
Solid Waste Plan Series
- Today: A Look at Kane County’s 2015 Solid Waste Management Plan
- Aug. 27: Part 2 “Minimizing Waste”
- Sept. 3: Part 3 “Food Scrap Composting and Anaerobic Digestion”
- Sept. 9: Part 4 “Clothes and Textile Recycling”
- Sept. 17: Part 5 “Electronics Recycling”
