Waste Management
If you’re reaching out about a request regarding trash, recycling, or other waste management issues, you can put in a request with Streets and Sanitation. Click on the type of request that most matches your request:
Garbage and Recycling Bins
Chicago residential buildings with four or fewer units are eligible for city scavenging service (AKA the black bins) and city recycling (AKA the blue bins). Large residential buildings, non-profits, and commercial buildings must provide their own trash pick-up and recycling services.
Black carts are picked up weekly, normally on the same day of the week. The majority of the ward gets picked up on Thursdays and Fridays, but pick-ups also occur on Tuesdays south of Addison. Blue carts are picked up every two weeks, but not necessarily the same day of the week every time. Please note holidays may impact pick-up schedules.
If you receive city pick-up, you may request new bins or maintenance to current bins. In general, these requests take 2-3 weeks to fulfill. Please feel free to reach out to our office if your request has been outstanding for 5 or more weeks, so that we can follow-up with the department to check on the status. If you find that you need an additional blue cart, an existing black garbage cart may eventually be taken away to manage space in the alley. There is no charge for the addition or removal of carts.
Steps
Go to CHI311 and submit a request for garbage maintenance.
If you need help submitting your request through 311’s online portal, view our help article on submitting service requests.
Additional resources
Neighbor Complaints about Bins
From time to time, our office receives complaints about neighbors’ (commercial or otherwise) garbage bins - blocking their garage, being overflowing, blocking access to alley, etc. If you have a concern about your neighbor’s garbage bin, first we recommend reaching out to your neighbor to try to resolve the issue. Oftentimes, these issues can be resolved with a direct conversation. If you’ve reached out to your neighbor and the issue still persists, feel free to reach out to our office. We will investigate the issue, reach out to the neighbor directly, and potentially connect you with mediation services.
Steps
Reach out to your neighbor directly with specific suggestions on how to address the issue.
If the issue persists, contact our office at info@aldermanmartin.com. Please include any notes you have about your conversation with your neighbor and the results of those conversations.
Throwing Away Large Items
If you receive city garbage pick-up, Streets and Sanitation will pick-up furniture and other large items with your regular pick-up. If you do not receive city pick-up, you may seek a private service to pick-up your item. We are not able to make special pick-ups for these items, so we recommend placing the item on the curb or in the alley on your regular pick-up day. If you do place the item out ahead of time, please do not block the public way. Furniture or other large items that block access to alleys or sidewalks may result in tickets. If your item is especially big (larger than a couch), we recommend calling our office ahead of item, so we let Streets and Sanitation know to expect the item.
Steps
If you receive city garbage pick-up, place your item at the curb or in the alley around your scheduled pick-up date. Be sure to not block the public way. If you do not receive city pick-up, please contact a private service to pick-up your item.
If you’d like to file a complaint about large items blocking the public way, go to CHI311 and submit a request for fly dumping.
If you need help submitting your request through 311’s online portal, view our help article on submitting service requests.
Illegal Dumping
If you see garbage or construction debris that has been illegally dumped on the public way or on a vacant lot, you can submit a request for fly dumping. It is recommended that if you see a dumping in progress that you call 911 and report a license plate number and a description of the vehicle and/or individuals involved. Even if the police are not able to respond to the complaint, it will create a record to help them identify problem areas.
Steps
Go to CHI311 and submit a request for fly dumping. It’s highly recommended that you include a license plate number and description of the vehicle and/or the individuals involved.
If you need help submitting your request through 311’s online portal, view our help article on submitting service requests.
Recycling and Composting
Since 2007 the City of Chicago has operated the Blue Cart Recycling program. The 47th Ward was one of the first 7 communities to participate at the inception of the program, and now the program is citywide. Single-family homes, and 2-to-4-flat buildings are eligible to receive the Blue Cart Recycling. While the city picks up garbage every week, recycling pick-ups are every other week. Private waste haulers provide collection services for the city’s remaining commercial and industrial businesses and residents who live in multi-unit buildings or high-rises (5 or more units).
As of 2020, our city recycling rate is one of the lowest in the country - less than 9%. Our office is actively having conversations with our city departments about how we can improve this rate. While we address systematic fixes, please be sure that you are not mixing trash with recyclables to ensure bins are not marked as contaminated.
While the city does not currently offer municipal composting services, neighbors interested in composting can seek a number of private providers that service the city.
Steps
Additional Resources
Public Trash Bins
Every once in a while, our office receives requests for new trash bins in public locations like bus stops. Due to Streets and Sanitation’s limited capacity to add new pick-ups to their schedule, we are able to fulfill a very limited number of these requests. We know how important it is that our city is kept clean - both from a public health and quality of life perspective. We wish we were able to fulfill all of these requests, but we must be realistic about Streets and Sanitation’s capacity so we can prevent bins from overflowing.
Steps
Go to CHI311 and enter a 311 request for a wire basket.
If you need help submitting your request through 311’s online portal, view our help article on submitting service requests.
Have a suggestion about how to improve waste management?
We always welcome suggestions on how to improve city services, so we can pass the feedback along to the Department and the Mayor’s office. Please send feedback and suggestions to info@aldermanmartin.com. It’s important to know that our city budget plays a significant role in determining the quality and timeliness of service that departments can provide. You can sign up for updates about the budget process and our townhalls here.
The 47th Ward Green Council meets monthly and has a waste management subcommittee which discusses ways to improve services and reduce the amount of waste were producing. You can sign up to get involved here.