Elburn to test lidded, larger recycling toters

Some Elburn residents will get to try recycling toters this spring and summer.

They will be part of a free test program to see if using toters, instead of bins, reduces the amount of plastic bottles, papers and other items blowing around town on garbage day.

The village board this week gave the go-ahead to the test Monday night.

Village Administrator Erin Willrett said she and a representative from Waste Management will determine how many households will participate. They will pick three neighborhoods, she said. Residents of those areas would then be notified by mail, and given options for signing up. The test would start in April and end in September.

Residents would receive two 64-gallon lidded toters: one for garbage, one for recyclables.

Recyclables blowing around town has particularly irked Trustee Jerry Schmidt. In February he brought the issue up again at a board meeting, saying the police or public works departments should be issuing tickets to the recyclables' owners.

The village last spring had a cleanup day where people picked up more than 50 bags of trash and recyclables.

In 2011 the village changed its law to require recyclables to be “secured,” instead of “covered.” That took away clear standards for police to write tickets, Village President Dave Anderson said.

Before it changed the law, the village issued 150 tickets in one week, but voided most after outraged residents complained.

The 18-gallon recycling bins Waste Management supplies do not come with lids. In May 2011, when renewing the village's waste-hauling contract, the board rejected mandating all residents to use a lidded 96-gallon wheeled recycling toter, which would be collected every other week. One objection was that people with one-car garages would have difficulty fitting the 96-gallon toters inside, and that some homeowners' associations prohibit keeping garbage and recycling containers outside.