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

Section 86-2 defines the Village's recycling program as the Village-wide recycling program approved by the Mayor and Board of Trustees on March 5, 1990, as amended over time, and defines recycling containers as the containers the Village issues to residents for placing recyclable materials for collection by the Village or its contractor. Section 86-16 then sets the operating rules for properties serviced by Village crews: all such locations must use only Village-provided containers for both putrescible waste and recyclable materials, and everything placed in those containers must follow the instructions on the container or in the Village's refuse policy.

The containers themselves remain Village property and must stay at the address they were originally issued to. For residential properties specifically, containers may hold only waste materials and recyclables generated on that property; materials generated at other properties cannot be placed in a household's containers, and building, construction, or remodeling debris generated by a professional contractor must be removed by that contractor rather than set out for Village collection. Do-it-yourself project debris must be disposed of according to instructions in the Village's refuse policy rather than mixed into the recycling stream.

Garbage cans or recycling containers that do not meet Village standards are subject to removal by the Village under Section 86-16(4), which effectively forces households to use the assigned Village-issued cart rather than a substitute container.