Holiday light recycling in SWANCC communities
The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County and its member communities are offering a Holiday Light Recycling Program at no cost to its residents.
All holiday string lighting and extension cords can be dropped off at various locations throughout Northern Cook County. Garland, live greens, wreaths or other nonrecyclables are not accepted in this program.
The following communities have drop-off locations: Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Hoffman Estates, Kenilworth, Lincolnwood, Mount Prospect, Niles, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, Skokie, Wheeling, Wilmette and Winnetka. The exact locations and drop-off hours can be found at swancc.org.
"Every year, residents find themselves purchasing new strands of lights due to burned out bulbs, incomplete strands, wanting a different color, etc. Through this recycling program, materials will be reclaimed, reprocessed, made into new products and kept out of the landfills - making the season much brighter," said Mary Allen, SWANCC's Recycling and Education director.
SWANCC and the participating communities have partnered with Elgin Recycling Inc. to recycle the lights and cords. The strands are separated and baled and sent to be chopped or shredded and sold as a commodity to foundries and mills in the United States.
Holiday light recycle locations include:
• Arlington Heights Public Works, 222 N. Ridge Ave.: 7:30-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, through Feb. 27; (847) 368-5800.
• Arlington Heights Village Hall Health Department, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. through Feb. 27; (847) 368-5760.
• Barrington Public Works, 300 N. Raymond Ave.: 24-hour outside drop-off at Public Works office entrance through March 5; (847) 381-7903.
• Buffalo Grove Village Hall, 50 Raupp Blvd.: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, through March 31; (847) 459-2530.
• Buffalo Grove Police Department, 46 Raupp Blvd.: 24-hour drop off through March 31; (847) 459-2530.
• Elk Grove Village Community Development Counter, 901 Wellington Ave.: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, through March 31; (847) 357-4220.
• Glenview Public Works, 1333 Shermer Road: 24-hour outside drop off at Public Works, through Feb. 28; (847) 657-3030.
• Hoffman Estates Village Hall lobby, 1900 Hassell Road: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, through Feb. 6; (847) 882-9100.
• Mount Prospect Public Works, 1700 W Central Road: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. through Feb. 27; (847) 870-5640.
• Niles Public Services Department, 6849 Touhy Ave.: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday through Feb. 28.
• Niles Family Fitness Center, 987 Civic Center Drive: 5:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, through Feb. 28; (847) 588-8400.
• Park Ridge Public Works Service Center, 400 Busse Hwy.: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, through March 2; (847) 318-5240.
• Prospect Heights City Hall, 8 N. Elmhurst Road: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, through March 1; (847) 398-6070.
• Rolling Meadows City Hall, 3600 Kirchoff Road: 24-hour outside drop-off through Feb. 13; (847) 394-8500.
• Skokie Public Works, 9050 Gross Point Road: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, through Jan. 30; (847) 933-8427.
• Wheeling Public Works, 77 W Hintz Road: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, through Feb. 27; (847) 279-6900.
SWANCC provides member residents a variety of waste reduction and recycling services, programs and resource materials. These include collections for special materials that cannot go into the curbside recycling cart or should not go into the garbage due to toxicity or recoverability, such as computer and electronics, prescription drugs and sharps, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, mercury thermometers, holiday lights and batteries.
For information or other SWANCC programs, visit swancc.org.