Effort under way to recycle license plates

SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois secretary of state's office is encouraging motorists to drop their old license plates in recycling bins outside all 136 motor vehicle facilities.

The bins have been available for a couple of weeks, but Secretary of State Jesse White formally unveiled the recycling initiative Tuesday, which was Earth Day.

After motorists drop off their old license plates, employees from White's office will take the plates to the secretary of state's Springfield warehouse to be shredded. From there, a scrap metal vendor will pick up the shredded metal.

White spokeswoman Elizabeth Kaufman says the discarded metal goes to a regional smelting operation, which means material from the old plates will be reused but not in new Illinois plates.

Kaufman says the recycling program carries a $10,000 startup cost.