Continuing the 40+ year tradition, which started with its roots in the Illinois Recycling Association, the Illinois Recycling Foundation, an educational 501c3 non-profit, recognized outstanding members at its 2023 Annual Conference. IRF is proud to share this year’s three recipients. The award winners were announced during the annual meeting held June 13, in Normal, Illinois.
Cook County was recognized as the Outstanding Public Sector Program for creating and offering the first of its kind, CHaRM Recycling Collection Center to enhance services to residents and businesses, reducing illegal dumping, and improving waste diversion. The Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, which opened on Earth Day this year, is the first of its kind in Cook County and in the Chicago Southland. The one-million-dollar investment by Cook County fulfills a promise to better the environment and provide an opportunity for everyone to participate in the effort.
For the Outstanding Private Sector program, GlassKing Recovery & Recycling, headquartered in Phoenix, AZ was recognized for finding a solution for restaurant, hotel, tavern, and commercial glass recycling then implementing pilot programs at several locations in Illinois to recover the important commodity.
The last award, and the highest recognition, is the Steve Apotheker Award, and it was presented to Mary Allen, for 28 years of serving not only SWANCC, but all of Illinois, in the areas of waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting for children and adults. She was thanked for her tireless creativity and ability to share so others might replicate or be inspired to offer similar programs.
For more information, visit https://illinoisrecycles.org/.