Chicago Doesn't Punish Multi-Unit Recycling Scofflaws, Audit Says

CHICAGO — The Streets and Sanitation Department hasn't adequately enforced recycling requirements for commercial properties and multi-unit residential that account for 40 percent of households in the city, according to the inspector general's office.

Since 2017, the city's recycling ordinance has included hefty fines of up to $5,000 for building owners that don't provide recycling services after receiving a warning. An audit released Wednesday found that streets and sanitation officials don't even attempt to identify scofflaws.

"While the City of Chicago has implemented a variety of recycling programs throughout the years, it has historically struggled with low participation rates. The Chicago Recycling Ordinance was amended in 2017 to include stronger enforcement provisions, but our audit show that this responsibility has not been met," Inspector General Joe Ferguson said in a statement.

The streets and sanitation department, which oversees the recycling program, does not proactively identify scofflaws, track compliance among private trash haulers and dole out punishment, according to the report.

The inspector general's office recommended department officials create an electronic system to issue citations, keep track of whether building owners comply with recycling requirements after receiving warnings, require private garbage haulers to submit timely, accurate annual reports on recycling contracts and require haulers to report building owners who decline recycling services.

Streets and sanitation officials have agreed to implement those changes, according to the inspector general's office.