For years, Chicago's political leaders have championed the city's green cred, pointing to energy-efficient buildings, median planters and pretty green roofs, while failing to address the most basic service: curbside recycling. Now, Mayor Emanuel is ready to take a stab at it. "When it comes to recycling, Chicago has been a tale of two cities," Rahm said today. "Half the city has had recycling. Half has not had recycling." (Actually, that's being generous; in reality, only about one-third of Chicago households ever got the blue bins.) Under the new plan, the city will be divided up into six service areas, with private contractors serving four of the six areas, and city employees will compete for the other two. Within four months, 20,000 new blue bins will be deployed to parts of Logan Square, Wicker Park and Bucktown. In six months, the city will run the numbers to see whether the private or city-run recycling is more cost-effective.
· Emanuel: Curbside recycling to be expanded to more households [S-T]
· Private haulers compete with city workers for Chicago recycling [Trib]
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