Collecting Recyclables:
- It’s best to set out recycling the night before to avoid missing the collections truck.
- The truck drives down each side of the street, so it may pass your house on the other side and come back.
- Open-top bins are collected by a second truck, separate from the mechanical arm truck.
- Residents may contact the City to get on the list to replace their open-top bin with a flip-top, two-wheeled recycling cart at no additional cost. 217-384-2342
- Place the cart near the curb wheels towards the house, four feet from obstructions.
- Collection is most efficient when all materials are placed in the cart. Additional cardboard may be placed next to the cart but must be flattened and reduced to three foot by three foot size.
- Containers must be removed from the right of way and returned to the house by 10:00 a.m. on the day following the assigned collection day.
- Materials accepted for recycling are posted at https://www.urbanail.gov/public-works/page/acceptable-recyclables
Processing Recyclables:
- The contents of collection trucks are weighed and transferred to larger, long-haul trucks in Urbana-Champaign.
- The materials are then hauled to our regional sorting facilities in Pekin and Normal Illinois.
- The single stream material is sorted into pure bales of recycling commodities sold to companies that can use the material.
- This video shows one such facility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijrMBM01D58
- All commodity markets are domestic.