Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Monday that the Department of Streets and Sanitation will implement its first-ever citywide composting initiative by allowing citizens to drop off household food scraps at any of 15 locations free of charge.

Composting diverts organic waste from landfills, where it would otherwise decompose and release harmful greenhouse gases. The initiative could be just what the city of Chicago needs to increase its dismal recycling rate of 9.6% in 2022 and a 10% average annual rate as of August 2023.

[ Only 9.6% of Chicago’s waste was recycled last year. A new facility could improve rates, but stumbling blocks remain. ]

The city of Minneapolis reported that it diverted over 35% of its municipal waste from landfills in 2022. Just over 19% of the diverted waste was recycled and over 16% of it was composted. These numbers offer a promising outlook for Chicago’s new initiative.

Residents who want to participate in the program should sign up online for a drop-off location close to home, collect their organic waste in sealed containers — but not in a bag of any kind, even compostable or paper ones — and bring these to the green carts at the sites, which will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

All kinds of food scraps are accepted, such as meat and fish, bones and eggshells, dairy such as cheese and yogurt, fruit and vegetable scraps, leftovers, coffee grounds and tea leaves. The city has a complete list of items accepted at the drop-off locations on their website or at chicagorecycles.org.

After being collected, the organic waste materials will be transferred and processed into compost at Harbor View Composting Facility in South Deering, which is operated by Whole Earth Compost. Experts say that food scraps will be given a new life as a valuable product that looks and smells like rich soil and can be used to improve soil health.

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In a recent interview with the Tribune, DSS Deputy Commissioner for Recycling Chris Sauve said the city’s next step for improving waste diversion rates was to develop a robust organics collection system. The city had recently introduced a pilot program where residents could drop off certain organic waste materials at six community gardens.

The 15 new drop-off sites are at:

• 11059 S. Homewood Ave. in Morgan Park
• 611 W. 69th St. in Englewood
• 1756 W. 74th St. in West Englewood
• 3720 W. 55th St. in West Elsdon
• 4352 S. Cottage Grove Ave. in Grand Boulevard
• 3359 S. Maplewood Ave. in Brighton Park
• 1758 S. Clark St. on the Near South Side
• 1944 W. Cullerton St. on the Lower West Side
• 2505 W. Grand Ave. in West Town
• 2460 W Cortland St. in Logan Square
• 5605 W. Grand Ave. in Belmont Cragin
• 3143 N. Rockwell St. in Avondale
• 5333 N. Western Ave. in Bowmanville
• 4605 W. Lawrence Ave. in Irving Park
• 6453 W. Higgins Ave. in Norwood Park

“Diverting food scraps for composting is one of the easiest and most impactful ways for individuals and cities to address the climate crisis,” Johnson said in a news release. “As we bring composting options to all Chicago residents, we can reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions that occur when organic food material decomposes in a landfill, return organic materials to the earth, and most importantly, create healthier communities across our great city.”

The announcement comes after Johnson presented his first budget recommendation last week, by which he attempts to make good on his campaign promise to reestablish the city’s long-shuttered Department of Environment. It will cost $1.8 million and have 14 employees. That’s much smaller than the $3.5 million budget that funded the department in 2011 when it was closed by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

[ Digging into the numbers in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget ]

After Emanuel disbanded the department, its responsibilities were absorbed by other city agencies such as the Departments of Public Health, Family and Support Services and Water Management. The former mayor then appointed a chief sustainability officer, but some activists criticized the move by arguing one person could not shoulder the work of a whole department.

Chicago Tribune’s A.D. Quig contributed.

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