Cicero, IL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 78-118 of Cicero's waste-reduction article sets the town's residential recycling method for the smallest properties: residents of homes and apartment buildings of four units or fewer must place their recyclables in a distinctively marked, strength plastic bag, distributed by the town's designated hauler under the Section 78-77 contract, and set it out alongside their regular municipal waste for pickup by that same hauler. At minimum, the recyclables the bag has to hold are newspaper, plastic containers coded PET or HDPE, aluminum cans and ferrous cans, though the commissioner (the superintendent of public works or a designee) can add to that list and controls the type, color and marking used for the recycling bags.

00. Larger buildings fall under different rules in the same article: high-density residential buildings of more than four units, along with condominium and cooperative buildings, must run an 'effective recycling program' under Section 78-119 collecting at least two designated materials and either a third material or two source-reduction measures, while commercial and office establishments have their own parallel recycling mandates in Sections 78-120 and 78-121. 00 per day for buildings or businesses found violating the article after being given a chance to come into compliance.