Kane County Disaster Debris Management Guide

Debris is often generated following a disaster such as a tornado, flood, storms or power outages.

Not all items may be discarded with garbage and trash. The management of these materials are described in this guide.

Individual property owners of the affected private property are responsible for separating and preparing all nonhazardous solid waste materials and residential recyclable material for pickup by a Kane County licensed municipal solid waste hauler.

It is recommended that recyclable materials such as metal, construction debris, and latex paint be separated and recycled whenever possible.

Household hazardous wastes and syringes should be separated and disposed of in a safe manner, either by special pick up or delivery to drop-off locations.

Large household appliances or “white goods”, electronics, tires and landscape waste are banned from landfills in Illinois and must be recycled.

Costs: Additional fees may be charged for special pickup or drop-off services. Residents should always call a service, drop-off location or facility directly to confirm the cost of disposal, acceptable items and hours or other restrictions.

Safety: The sorting of debris should be handled in a safe manner and personal protective clothing and equipment should be used, for example, disposable protective suits, gloves, eye protection, and face masks (i.e. dust or N95 mask).

Store all waste away from water wells and prevent vehicles and heavy equipment from driving or parking over any portion of a septic system.

Please be patient as clean-up efforts may take time. Collectively, residents and waste haulers can prepare and manage the debris in an orderly and safe way for recycling and disposal while protecting public health.

Contacting a Waste Hauler

Municipal waste and recycling haulers provide curbside collection of non-hazardous solid waste and traditional residential recyclable materials and transport the waste and recyclable materials to approved recycling, compost and disposal facilities.

Garbage or trash should be placed in covered trash containers or secured garbage bags whenever practical to prevent nuisance conditions such as litter, prejudicial odors and disease-causing rodents, mosquitoes or flies, and placed at the curb for pickup by a Kane County licensed municipal solid waste hauler.

See a list of waste haulers at this PDF page.

Traditional Residential Recyclable Materials

The Kane County Residential Recycling Ordinance requires residents who receive curbside collection service from a licensed hauler to prepare and separate out the following recyclable materials from landfill trash for the purpose of recycling.

These include but are not limited to, aluminum and tin cans, newspapers, corrugated cardboard, mixed office paper, high-grade printing and writing papers, magazines, plastic and glass containers.

Waste and recycling haulers collect the recyclable material and transport it to the appropriate resource recovery facility or recycling center.

Recycling Metal

Metals including aluminum, brass, copper, insulated wire, iron and steel are highly recyclable and can even offer a payback when you recycle. Some drop-offs also accept large household appliances like refrigerators, washers, and microwaves.

Recycling Household Appliances (White Goods)

If your appliance cannot be reasonably repaired, then there are several recycling options for the proper management of your discarded appliances:

• Many appliance retailers will remove your old appliance with the purchase and delivery of a new one. Make arrangements to have them remove the old appliance when scheduling delivery.
• Metal recyclers provide drop-off locations for appliances. See list above.
• Contact your waste and recycling hauler directly to confirm if they offer this service, acceptable items, the cost of disposal, and/or other restrictions.
• Secure the doors of refrigerators and freezers that are placed curbside until they are properly removed. This can be done by removal of the doors or padlocking the doors.

Recycling Electronics

Certain electronics, listed below, cannot be landfilled in Illinois and are required to be recycled by law.

• Televisions
• Satellite Receivers
• Videocassette Recorders
• Video Game Consoles
• Computers (laptop, collection event.

See this page for more on recycling electronics.

Recycling Construction Debris

Construction debris includes carpet, carpet padding, wood, lumber, wallboard, drywall, metal, brick, shingles, and vinyl siding. Many construction materials are resources that can be recovered, reused and recycled.

Construction debris may be placed at the curb for special curbside pickup. It is necessary to contact your waste and recycling hauler for instructions on material preparation and any fees.

• Editor’s Note: This is just a sampling of the information in the full guide. Click this link to see the full guide in PDF form.