City of Highwood Selects Lakeshore Recycling Systems for Commercial, Residential Waste Collection

HIGHWOOD, IL--(Marketwired - December 29, 2015) - The City of Highwood today announced it will be the first municipality in Illinois to require curbside organics collection for both commercial and residential services. Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS), Chicagoland's leading independent recycling and waste diversion services provider, was awarded the residential and the commercial contracts for solid waste removal; with the residential contract going into effect in Spring 2017, and commercial services beginning Jan. 1, 2016.

The year-round organics program will include food scraps and yard waste comingled in a separate third cart provided to each customer. Residents will be provided a 96-gallon recycling cart, a 65-gallon garbage cart and a 35-gallon organics cart. Commercial customers will be able to adjust their third bin based on their waste production. LRS will transport the organics to one of two available facilities where it will be recycled into compost.

"We are excited to team up with LRS to provide an additional solid waste collection service to our residents and businesses," said Molly Keane, Management Assistant for Highwood. "We realize the size and density of our community makes us a great candidate to implement an encompassing organics program like this. It will require a lot of education on the City's part; we have to rethink what we consider garbage and understand where our waste goes."

The City hopes this effort will provide long-term benefits to their residents and businesses as the cost of organic collection decreases and garbage collection increases.

"LRS is thrilled to be selected by the City of Highwood and we look forward to kicking off commercial services beginning in January," said Managing Partner Joshua B. Connell. "Highwood residents and businesses will benefit from our service efficiency and technology innovation, including our embedded RFID chip technology on every bin to ensure service verification. In regards to organic recycling, Highwood residents will have the ability to combine food scraps with their yard waste in one recycling bin that we then turn into compost."

In addition to the City of Highwood, LRS has won the service contracts of other leading Chicago north shore communities, including: Highland Park, Deerfield, Riverwoods, Bannockburn, Skokie and Golf.

About Lakeshore Recycling Systems

Serving Chicagoland for over 16 years and headquartered in Morton Grove, Illinois, Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) is Chicagoland's leading recycling and waste diversion services provider. LRS provides recycling and waste diversion programs, affordable roll-off container services and comprehensive waste removal to businesses and residential homeowners. LRS operates five Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), a growing fleet of natural gas-powered trucks and is run by more than 400 committed full-time employees. LRS is a recipient of Chicago Public Schools' coveted Best Partnership Award and is ranked #31 on Waste360's 2015 ranking of the Top 100 waste and recycling companies in North America. At over 1.6 million recycled tons-per-year, no other independent company in Illinois collects, diverts and recycles as much as LRS. LRS owns no landfills and is committed to raising awareness and fostering discussion on the importance of recycling and environmental sustainability in a circular economy. To learn more, follow the company at www.LRSrecycles.com, 'Like' us on Facebook and follow on Twitter @LRSrecycles.

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