County Waste Management Plans

Pursuant to the Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act (SWPRA, 415 ILCS 15), by March 1, 1991, each county with a population of 100,000 or more and each municipality with a population of 1,000,000 or more, and by March 1, 1995, each county with a population of less than 100,000, shall submit to Illinois EPA an officially adopted plan for the management of municipal waste generated within its boundaries. Each county waste management plan shall be updated and reviewed every 5 years, and any necessary or appropriate revisions shall be submitted to Illinois EPA for review and comment.

Waste Management Plan Requirements

The Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act (SWPRA) requires every county to adopt a plan to manage the solid waste generated within its boundaries. These plans are important tools for local planning endeavors and are required to include:

• A description of the origin, content, and weight or volume of municipal waste generated within the county’s boundaries;
• A description of the origin, content, and weight or volume of municipal waste that will be generated in the next 20 years, including an assessment of the primary variables affecting this estimate and the extent to which they can reasonably be expected to occur;
• A description of the facilities where municipal waste is currently being processed or disposed of and the remaining available permitted capacity of such facilities;
• A description of the facilities and programs that are proposed for the management of municipal waste generated within the county’s boundaries during the next 20 years, including, but not limited to, their size, expected cost, and financing method;
• An evaluation of the environmental, energy, life cycle, and economic advantages and disadvantages of the programs of the proposed waste management facilities and programs;
• A description of the time schedule for the development and operation of each proposed facility or program;
• The identity of potential sites within the county where each proposed waste processing, disposal, and recycling program will be located or an explanation of how the sites will be chosen. For any facility outside the county that the county proposes to utilize, the plan shall explain the reasons for selecting such facility;
• The identity of the governmental entity that will be responsible for implementing the plan on behalf of the county and explanation of the legal bases for the entity’s authority to do so;
• Any other information that the Agency may require.

In addition, each county waste management plan is required to include a recycling program. The recycling program:

• Shall be implemented throughout the county and include a time schedule for implementation of the program;
• Shall be designed to recycle, by the end of the third and fifth years of the program, respectively 15% and 25% of the municipal waste generated in the county, subject to the existence of a viable market for the recycled material, based on measurements of recycling and waste generated in terms of weight. The determination of recycling rate shall not include: discarded motor vehicles, wastes used for clean fill or erosion control, or commercial, institutional or industrial machinery or equipment;
• May provide for the construction and operation of one or more recycling centers by a unit of local government, or for contracting with other public or private entities for the operation of recycling centers;
• May require residents of the county to separate recyclable materials at the time of disposal or trash pick-up;
• May make special provision for the commercial and institutional establishments that implement their own specialized recycling programs, provided that such establishments annually provide written documentation to the county of the total number of tons of material recycled;
• Shall provide for separate collection and composting of leaves;
• Shall include provisions for compliance, including incentives and penalties;
• Shall include provisions for (i) recycling the collected materials, (ii) identifying potential markets for at least 3 recyclable materials, and (iii) promoting the use of products made from recovered or recycled materials among businesses, newspapers and local governments in the county;
• May provide for the payment of recycling diversion credits to public and private parties engaged in recycling.

County Solid Waste Planning Grant

Round 1: Illinois EPA approved 11 grantees, with awards totaling $199,990.00.

Round 2: Illinois EPA approved 4 grantees and 6 amendments, with awards totaling $68,600.00.

Round 3: Illinois EPA approved 4 grantees and 6 amendments, with awards totaling $100,000.00.

Illinois EPA provided funding for interested counties and other units of local government required to develop a county solid waste management plan, as required every five years by the SWPRA. In total, 35 out of 102 counties in Illinois (34.3%) have been awarded funding under the County Solid Waste Planning Grant, with project work starting in late April, in progress, or already completed. Funding is not currently available. 

If you are interested in reviewing your county’s waste management plan, please contact your county. If you have any questions regarding the program, plans, or future grant applications, contact:

Materials Management and Compliance Section
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Bureau of Land
Email: epa.recycling@illinois.gov
Phone: (217) 524-3300