What's New - Kane County Recycling?

Ne​ws & Announcements, January 2025:​​​​​​​​​

NEW Recycle I-PASS Transponders at Kane County Recycling C​enters: ​Our Fabyan & West Dundee Recycling Centers and Aurora pop-ups are now able to accept I-PASS transponders for recycling thanks to a new partnership with the Illinois Tollway.

Coming Soon: Kane County Composts! ​The County has been awarded a USDA Composting and Food ​Waste Reduction Grant to improve food waste diversion. See the Kane County Connects announcement here​. More details coming soon!​​​​

Monthly Aurora Pop-up Event: Our next pop-up event at the Aurora Ace Hardware, 994 N. La​ke Street, Aurora, is Saturday, February 1, 2025 from 9am - noon. We accept electronics, clothing and textiles, books and other paper items for recycling. TV/monitor fees apply. See our Centers page for more details on item acceptance.​

New Items Accepted at Fabyan: ​The County, eWorks and Flat Can Recycling are expanding their partnership to accept more "hard to recycle" items at Fabyan Parkway. These items include smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, child car seats and boosters, and ride-in toy cars​ (both low-tech​ push models and battery powered self-propelled). There are recycling fees associated with these items. Please see the Recycling Centers page for more info.​

Learn About Composting with Worms: ​We have a new page on​​​​ our website introducing the Kane County Worm Bin, and walking step by step through the process of starting a worm composting system. 

The Kane County Worm Bin has been eating our garbage for 15 months!​

Styrofoam Drop-off in West Dundee now 24/7: ​Chicago Logistics Service, in collaboration with Dart Container, recently obtained an outdoor receptacle which allows their existing Styrofoam drop-off to be open around the clock. It's located behind the building at 701 Wesemann Drive in West Dundee, near the loading docks​. Block #6 Styrofoam, clean foam food and beverage containers, foam coolers, and separately​ bagged packing peanuts are all accepted from the public for free​.

Nicotine Vapes Now Accepted at Naperville HHW: ​The Naperville Household Hazardous Waste Site, which is open to all state residents every Saturday and Sunday, 9am - 2pm, is now accepting nicotine-containing vape devices. These are very challenging items to dispose of, because they contain a substance that is hazardous to human health at high concentrations and lithium batteries. Looking to quit? See Kane County Health Department resources here​.

Go on a Waste Journey: ​Ever wonder where exactly your recycling, trash or yard waste goes to after it's picked up from your home or business? Check​ out our​ new Waste Journey page, featuring a map of all the different facilities that consolidate, sort, compost and store our waste.

Kane County Environmental News on Facebook: Kane County's Recycling and Environmental Program has a new Facebook page! If you are a FB user, please give us a follow! The page will be used to share announcements and news about recycling and waste reduction, energy efficiency, sustainability, stormwater and water quality.​​​

Battery Awareness: ​The Kane County Recycling Coordinator recently worked with peers to develop some statewide guidance (see website and Facebook). Need to know where to recycle batteries in Kane County? Here's the scoop! Do you think you might have a "spicy pillow" (a.k.a. a damaged lithium-ion battery) on your hands? Kane County residents can r​educe fire​ risks by learning how to recognize damaged batteries, where to take them​, and how to prevent battery damage in the first place​.

New "Bits and Pieces" Self-Service Kiosk at Fabyan: We are happy to ​announce the availability of a four-bin kiosk at the Fabyan Recycling Center for small hard-to-recycle items. These items are being collected to benefit existing local organizations or programs. The items accepted at the Kiosk are: Bin 1 - ink jet cartridges​; Bin 2 - dry art and school supplies (what does that mean? glad you asked - we have a full list here​); Bin 3 - eyeglasses and hearing aids; Bin 4 - can cadd​y holders and mul​ti-beverage ring holders. Kiosk items only may be dropped off when the site is open and after-hours or on weekends. All other site materials (electronics, clothing, aerosols, books, ​paper) may only be brought in during normal site hours (8am- 4pm Mon - Fri).

​New Recycling Center Guide: ​The information inside is mostly unchanged, but we gave our PDF Recycling Center Guide a redesign to improve form and function. 

Green Your Next Remodeling Project: Cons​truction or demolition debris (CDD) results from building, remodeling and demolition projects, both large and small. See our recent article in Kane County Connects for tips on how to lessen impacts and dispose of materials responsibly. Or skip straight to our new CDD page to find businesses providing CDD handling services locally.​