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the highland park landmark | May 11, 2017 | 3
Highwood becomes Illinois’ first year-round composting municipality
Courtney Jacquin, Editor
For garbage days in
Highwood, three’s a
crowd.
Starting May 3, all
Highwood residents will
have a 35-gallon organic
waste carts to be able to
mix food scraps with yard
waste for collection at the
curb throughout the year,
on top of recycling and
garbage carts.
While many cities and
villages in the area offer
composting at various
times throughout the year
— Highland Park residents
have organic waste
pick up April 1 through
Dec. 15 — Highwood is
the first municipality in
Illinois to offer a yearround
organics program.
“It really made sense
for Highwood, we have a
relatively small community,
so we are very good
at getting information out
to residents, so from an
educational standpoint,
Highwood is ideal for introducing
new types of
programs,” Highwood
City Manager Scott Coren
said. “We also have a lot
of residents who are very
environmentally conscious,
so I think there’s
been a lot of buy-in for
the program from the very
beginning.”
The year-round organics
contract with Lakeshore
Recycling Systems
was approved by Highwood
City Council on
Sept. 24, 2015.
“We knew that our garbage
contract was coming
What to compost
Yard waste: grass clippings, garden vegetation,
leaves and brush
Food scraps: meat, bread, fruit, vegetables, table
scraps, dairy, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags,
egg shells, cereal, grains and pasta
Unsoiled or food-soiled paper products: paper
towels, paper bags, pizza boxes, napkins, paper
cups and newspapers
to an end, and about two
years ago we wanted to
look at all possible options,
including some innovative
methods,” Coren
said.
In moving to a threecart
option, the City not
only helps the environment,
but reduces its
cost, as “recyclables and
organic waste cost less
money to dispose of than
traditional garbage,” according
to Coren.
“It was both doing better
for the environment,
and doing better financially
for our residents and
the community,” he said.
By diverting organic
material away from landfills
to composting sites,
the implementation of
this initiative is leading
the way in helping
Lake County and Highwood
achieve its goal of
a 60 percent recycling and
composting rate by 2020,
What not to compost
Plastic bags
Plastic packaging
Pet waste
Sanitary products
Diapers
Glass
Metal
Styrofoam
Liquids
Grease
Oil
according to Assistant to
the City Manager Adrian
Marquez.
According to Coren,
there’s been little pushback
from residents thus
far, mostly just questions
on what can and cannot be
composted, which his office
is working on answering
through traditional
means, as well as social
media.
“[Residents] want to
participate and do it well
... they’re looking to understand
the program and
implement it properly,”
Coren said.
Coren’s tips he’s shared
with residents so far include
putting yard waste
at the bottom of the bin
and organic waste on top,
and to use brown paper
bags, not plastic bags to
gather the organic waste.
The benefits of using
compost include maintaining
high quality soil,
reducing the use of fertilizer
and pesticides, improving
water quality and
protecting the environment.
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