Chicago picking up less yard waste despite more resident requests
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Bags wait in an alley to be picked up and composted by city crews. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
As requests for leaf pickup rose to record levels in 2021 and '22, the amount of yard waste actually collected by the city plunged by nearly 60%, per data Axios obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Context: For at least a decade, the city has required residents wanting to dispose of yard waste to call 311 and put it in bags outside their carts for collection and composting by the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS).
- After we reported inconsistent responses to that system last year, DSS chief Cole Stallard said his department needed "to do better."
Why it matters: The new data indicates the department is actually doing worse. It suggests workers are either ignoring thousands of resident requests or illegally dumping yard waste in landfills.
- Illinois has outlawed yard waste in landfills since 1990, because it creates the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
What they're saying: DSS officials could not explain why yard waste collection has dropped so dramatically while requests rose over the past two years, but they did tell Axios they have to improve their data collection.
The intrigue: The department this fall hired two longtime compost advocates, including Carter O' Brien, who watchdogged DSS for years on its leaf composting practices.
- We want to "embrace organic waste as an opportunity as much as an obligation," O'Brien tells Axios. "Organic waste collection, be it leaves, pumpkin smashes, or composting at community gardens, is just a whole different way to redefine the city's relationship with waste."
🎃 Of note: The city this year launched pumpkin smashes that diverted 12 tons of compostable waste from the landfill.
- And next month, it will host many Christmas tree mulching programs at local parks.