HB4473 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 15586 BDA 28753 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4473

Introduced 1/20/2026, by Rep. Daniel Didech

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 15/3	from Ch. 85, par. 5953
415 ILCS 15/6	from Ch. 85, par. 5956

Amends the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act. Requires each county waste management plan to include a recycling program to designed to recycle or compost (rather than just recycle) municipal waste at a specified recycling rate by a certain timeline. Defines the recycling rate as 25% until January 1, 2032, and 50% beginning January 1, 2032 (rather than 15% by the end of the third year of the program and 25% by the end of the fifth year of the program). Requires the waste management plan to provide for the reduction of the total release of dioxin and mercury to the environment with the goal of their continued minimization and, if feasible, ultimate elimination from the county's municipal waste stream.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act is amended by changing Sections 3 and 6 as follows:

(415 ILCS 15/3) (from Ch. 85, par. 5953)

Sec. 3. As used in this Act, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Agency" means the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

"Composting" means the biological process by which microorganisms decompose the organic fraction of waste, producing a humus-like material that may be used as a soil conditioner.

"County" means any county of the State and includes the City of Chicago.

"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"Municipal waste" means garbage, general household, institutional and commercial waste, industrial lunchroom or office waste, landscape waste, and construction and demolition debris.

"Person" means any individual, partnership, cooperative enterprise, unit of local government, institution, corporation or agency, or any other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.

"Recycling, reclamation or reuse" means a method, technique or process designed to remove any contaminant from waste so as to render the waste reusable, or any process by which materials that would otherwise be disposed of or discarded are collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products.

"Recycling center" means a facility that accepts only segregated, nonhazardous, nonspecial, homogeneous, nonputrescible materials, such as dry paper, glass, cans or plastics, for subsequent use in the secondary materials market.

"Recycling rate" means the percentage of municipal waste that is generated in a county and that is to be composted or otherwise recycled each year. Until January 1, 2032, the recycling rate is 25%. Beginning January 1, 2032, the recycling rate is 50%.

(Source: P.A. 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)

(415 ILCS 15/6) (from Ch. 85, par. 5956)

Sec. 6. Each county waste management plan adopted under Section 4 shall include a recycling program. Such recycling program:

(1) shall be implemented throughout the county and include a time schedule for implementation of the program; .

(2) shall provide for the designation of a recycling coordinator to administer the program; .

(3) shall be designed to recycle or compost , by the end of the third and fifth years of the program, respectively 15% and 25% of the municipal waste generated in the county at the recycling rate described in Section 3, 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 . 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; .

(4) 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; .

(5) may require residents of the county to separate recyclable materials at the time of disposal or trash pick-up; .

(6) may make special provision for 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; .

(7) shall provide for separate collection and composting of leaves; .

(8) shall include public education and notification programs to foster understanding of and encourage compliance with the recycling program; .

(9) shall include provisions for compliance, including incentives and penalties; .

(10) 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; .

(11) may provide for the payment of recycling diversion credits to public and private parties engaged in recycling activities; and .

(12) shall provide for the reduction of the total release of dioxin and mercury into the environment with the goal of their continued minimization and, if feasible, ultimate elimination from the county's municipal waste stream.

(Source: P.A. 86-777; 87-650.)