Resource Recovery and Energy

The Will County Land Use Department's Resource Recovery and Energy Division was known as the Waste Services Division until September 2010.  In honor of the expansion of environmental education programs and the groundbreaking of the County landfill's Gas-to-Energy facility, the division name was changed.  For more than a decade, the division was funded primarily through Illinois EPA grants for enforcement and revenue from the landfills in the County; today, the division is receiving US Department of Energy EECBG funds to improve the energy efficiency of County buildings and to educate the public on ways they can save energy, natural resources and money.

The Resource Recovery and Energy Division is a small division of the Land Use Department, consisting of a Director, a Recycling Specialist, an Environmental Educator, three Enforcement Officers and a secretary.  Together, they respond to complaints, answer thousands of calls each year, present information to over 10,000 children and adults, staff booths, provide special collection events, assist municipalities and townships with curbside collection contracts and drop-off sites, help schools expand their waste reduction and recycling efforts, work with businesses to improve their recycling and, most recently, created this website to bring energy savings information to anyone with internet access.

The State of Illinois requires every county to create and adhere to a solid waste plan. The plan is updated with input from the public every five years.  The Resource Recovery and Energy Division is tasked with collecting and reporting recycling and waste generation data annually to the State EPA.  Will County is an EPA Inspection Delegated County, meaning that the Illinois EPA cost effectively improves their response to illegal dumping and permit site inspection through the Enforcement staff of the division.

Residents should be proud to know that the employees of this division are dedicated to the mission of the division. Several of the group are long-term and experienced employees of the County, additionally many of them have significant career achievements:  The Director is a past President of the Illinois Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America; a Senior Enforcement Officer is the current President of the Illinois County Solid Waste Management Association; another Senior Enforcement Officer holds a license as an Environmental Health Practitioner; the Recycling Specialist is the current Vice-President of the Illinois Recycling Association and the Environmental Educator is a past Illinois Recycling Association Educator of the Year Award recipient.

Please check out the links below to find more information on environmental enforcement.

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.Safeguards environmental quality so as to protect health, welfare, property and the quality of life.
http://www.epa.state.il.us/

IEPA Permitted Facilities. The facilities on this listing accept Potentially Infectious Medical Waste.
http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/waste-mgmt/facility-tables/pimw-facilities.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste. The Office of Solid Waste (OSW) regulates all this waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
http://www.epa.gov/osw/

Illinois Pollution Control Board. This agency works to control pollution and restore the environment. 
http://www.ipcb.state.il.us/

 

RRE ORDINANCES

Pollution Control Facility Siting Ordinance PDF

CCDD Fee Ordinance