Solid Waste

Winter weather complicates an already scarce parking situation in Downtown Bloomington. The Market Street parking deck has closed. And the Front and Center block has yet to finish demolition and become surface parking. That’s likely to become available sometime next spring.

The Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District plans to borrow $31.5 million for the next two phases of a major renovation to its sewage treatment plant in west Bloomington.

McLean County registered its highest recycling rate ever last year. Nearly 48% of all municipal solid waste produced in the county did not go to a landfill.

Even for those who are on board about recycling in McLean County, there’s confusion about what can be recycled — and perhaps some laziness about contamination. Those are among the results of a survey by the Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development for the Ecology Action Center in Normal.

McLean County's recycling rate could take a hit after bulk waste hauler LRS Henson Disposal chose not to renew its contract with the City of Bloomington.

A series of public hearings on a proposed new waste transfer station in south Bloomington ended a day early on Thursday, propelling Lakeshore Recycling Services' application into its next phase.

A proposal to build a waste transfer site at 2020 Bunn St. in Bloomington is before members of the McLean County Board, who will eventually decide whether Chicago-based Lakeshore Recycling Services's plan meets county standards.

Opponents of Lakeshore Recycling's proposed solid waste transfer station just off South Bunn Street in unincorporated McLean County are mobilizing with yard signs and public comments to the county.

McLean County improved its recycling rate significantly last year, but lost ground on its goals. The Ecology Action Center in Normal reports the county recycling rate rose to nearly 47% of all solid waste produced last year, up from about 44% in 2021.

A Bloomington company wants to get into the municipal waste business, a sector that's been dominated largely by one company in the Twin Cities.