Bloomington, IL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 21-601 of the Bloomington City Code makes curbside recycling a standing part of the City's residential solid waste service: the City collects recyclables from residential buildings every other week, on the same day of the week as each address's regular route, following a schedule the Director of Public Works sets. That every-other-week cycle does not reach every part of the City, though. Subsection B removes the Downtown Service Area from curbside recycling entirely, a carve-out the code defines as the area from Madison Street west to East Street and from Front Street north to Locust Street, plus Front Street itself between East and Prairie Streets; downtown residents rely on the drop-off program instead.

Subsection C lets the Director of Public Works add recycling service beyond the every-other-week baseline at his discretion, so some routes can run more often than the code's floor. Materials go out in City-issued wheeled carts under § 21-602, and recycling follows the same holiday shift as garbage: § 21-603 skips only Christmas Day, pushing that week's stop to the next regularly scheduled recycling day. Recycling stored or located anywhere other than the way this article requires is itself a violation under § 21-609, independent of whatever penalty applies to the container or placement rule that was actually broken.