Residential and commercial high-rises thumbing their noses at the city鈥檚 recycling requirement would face hefty fines, under a mayoral crackdown proposed Wednesday.
During an action-packed City Council meeting dominated by the sharing economy, Mayor Rahm Emanuel quietly took aim at high-rises that have been skirting the recycling requirement.
Streets and Sanitation spokesperson Jennifer Martinez said the city has 鈥渞eceived complaints from residents saying their buildings don鈥檛 recycle.鈥�
鈥滻n order to help enforce the already existing ordinance, and give these residents the ability to recycle in high-rise and commercial buildings, Chicago needed to update the ordinance,鈥� Martinez told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Emanuel wants to amend Chicago鈥檚 20-year old recycling ordinance to spell out the specific responsibilities of building owners and add enforcement tools to the city鈥檚 arsenal.
The new ordinance would require property owners of multi-unit residential, office and commercial buildings to provide 鈥渟ource-separated, single stream recycling.鈥�
That means recyclable need to be separated from normal waste and remain segregated until pick-ups arranged and paid for by the buildings.
That鈥檚 described as the most commonly used collection method in the industry.
Property owners would also be responsible for educating tenants and lease holders. That campaign must include posting signs, providing adequate carts and sending written notice to tenants about the change and the recycling expected of them.
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