Chicago Recycling Ordinance 11-5-085: Rules, Fines, and Cure Period

Chicago Municipal Code Section 11-5-085 makes it illegal for anyone other than an authorized hauler or building occupant to remove recyclable materials from a recycling container. That single prohibition sits inside a much larger set of rules in Chapter 11-5, which requires owners of residential buildings with five or more units and most commercial properties to run a source-separated recycling program through a licensed private hauler. Fines run from $500 to $1,000 for a first violation and climb to $5,000 for repeat offenses, with each day counted separately.

What Section 11-5-085 Actually Prohibits

The section is narrow. It targets scavenging: pulling cans, bottles, cardboard, or other materials out of a recycling bin for their resale value. The ordinance carves out exemptions for authorized haulers and for the building’s own occupants. Anyone else who takes recyclables from a container risks a citation.¹

That is the whole of 11-5-085. The compliance obligations most property owners actually need to worry about live elsewhere in Chapter 11-5, and they are summarized below.

Which Buildings Have to Comply

Chicago splits recycling duties by building size. Single-family homes and residential buildings with four or fewer units are served by the city’s Blue Cart program, which collects curbside recyclables on a biweekly schedule.² If your residential building has five or more units, Blue Cart does not serve you. You have to contract with a licensed private hauler for recycling collection.³

The same requirement reaches commercial properties. Under Section 11-5-030, any owner required to maintain commercial refuse containers and scavenger service under Sections 7-28-220 or 7-28-225 must also contract for source-separated recycling.⁴ The legal duty sits with the owner. Hiring a property manager or waste contractor does not shift accountability, so if a management company or condo board fails to set recycling up, the owner is the one who gets cited.

What a Compliant Program Looks Like

Hauler Contract and Written Plan

You need an active contract with a licensed private hauler for source-separated recycling, and a written recycling plan kept on the premises. The plan has five required parts: the materials being collected and any waste-reduction measures in use, instructions on how recyclables are prepared and where they go, a summary of your tenant or employee education program, a copy of the hauler contract, and the semi-annual quality and contamination reports from the hauler.⁵ Inspectors can ask for the plan and the contract during a visit, and not having them ready is a quick path to a citation.

Containers and Signage

Each building must put recycling containers in interior and exterior common areas, sized to let occupants actually participate.⁴ Section 11-5-130 requires signs notifying residents, employees, and customers that source-separated recycling is in effect. Blue containers or blue labels and translated signage where the tenant base calls for it reduce contamination, which matters because contaminated loads can be rejected by the processing facility and billed back as disposal.

Tenant Notice

Every resident has to be told what can be recycled and how to prepare it. When the plan changes, tenants need at least 10 days’ notice before the change takes effect.⁵ Giving the notice at lease signing and again at least annually keeps new and existing tenants on the same page.

Materials That Have to Be Separated

Section 11-5-080 lists 13 categories of material that must be source-separated:⁶

Aluminum cans, aluminum trays and foil
Steel and tin cans
Glass bottles and jars
Plastic bottles and containers marked #1 through #5, or #7
Beverage cartons, including aseptic (shelf-stable) cartons
Newspaper, magazines, catalogues, phone books, and junk mail
Office paper, computer paper, and notebook paper
Cardboard, chipboard, and carrier-stock packaging like cereal boxes
Paper bags, gift wrap, envelopes, and paperback books

Note that #6 plastic (polystyrene) is not on the list. The Commissioner can add materials by rulemaking under Section 11-5-340, so the list is worth rechecking from time to time.

Fines and the 30-Day Cure Period

When an inspector finds a building out of compliance, the city gives 30 days to fix the problem before fines begin.⁷ Treat the notice as a hard deadline. Once those 30 days pass, each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense, and the amounts stack quickly:³

First violation: $500 to $1,000
Second violation within 12 months: $1,000 to $2,500
Third and later violations within 12 months: $2,500 to $5,000 each

The Department of Streets and Sanitation is the primary enforcement agency and can be reached at (312) 744-2413 for compliance questions.⁴

Exemptions Are Narrow

The chapter allows limited exemptions from the hauler-contract requirement. Owners who backhaul every material listed in Section 11-5-080 themselves, and who meet the standards in Article V, can qualify. Individual commercial tenants may be exempt if their lease already includes recycling, if they backhaul, or if they hold a valid certificate of exemption.³ Unless you can show that all 13 categories are being properly separated and delivered to a permitted facility on your own, contracting with a licensed hauler is the safer route.

1
American Legal Publishing. Chicago Municipal Code Chapter 11-5 – Reduction and Recycling Program
2
City of Chicago. Blue Cart Residential Recycling Program
3
American Legal Publishing. Chicago Municipal Code 11-5-030 – Contract With a Private Hauler – When Required – Exemptions
4
City of Chicago. Municipal Code of Chicago Chapter 11-5 – Reduction and Recycling Program
5
City of Chicago. Private Sector Recycling
6
American Legal Publishing. Chicago Municipal Code 11-5-080 – Recyclable Material – Prohibited Material
7
City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. Follow-Up to OIG Audit of DSS Commercial and High-Density Recycling Enforcement