Lakeshore Recycling to handle Highwood organics waste collection

The city of Highwood awarded Lakeshore Recycling Systems a contract to operate the village's curbside organics collection for both commercial and residential services.

Highwood's program - the first like it in Illinois - will include food scraps and yard waste co-mingled in a separate third cart provided to each customer. Residents will be provided a 96-gallon recycling cart, a 65-gallon garbage cart and a 35-gallon organics cart. Commercial customers will be able to adjust their third bin based on their waste production. LRS will transport the organics to one of two available facilities where it will be recycled into compost.

Under the contract, Lakeshore Recycling Systems will handle the residential and the commercial contracts, with the residential contract going into effect in Spring 2017 and commercial services beginning Jan. 1, 2016.

"We realize the size and density of our community makes us a great candidate to implement an encompassing organics program like this. It will require a lot of education on the City's part; we have to rethink what we consider garbage and understand where our waste goes, " said Molly Keane, management assistant for Highwood.

The city hopes this effort will provide long-term benefits to their residents and businesses as the cost of organic "Highwood residents and businesses will benefit from our service efficiency and technology innovation, including our embedded RFID chip technology on every bin to ensure service verification," said LRS Managing Partner Joshua B. Connell. "In regards to organic recycling, Highwood residents will have the ability to combine food scraps with their yard waste in one recycling bin that we then turn into compost."