Dive Brief:

• The Recycling Partnership will join Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) to educate residents about Chi-Town's curbside recycling program this summer and fall, according to a press release.
• The Partnership and DSS will work together to create a public service announcement campaign that will be visible at over 200 locations around the city. The campaign will aim to remind residents what materials are acceptable in Chicago's curbside recycling collection.
• The program is being sponsored by Target and Coca-Cola, according to the Partnership, so the campaign won't cost Chicago taxpayers.

Dive Insight:

The Recycling Partnership has been on an environmental crusade lately, helping cities purchase new recycling bins, working with over 200 communities last year and publicly decrying the Trump administration's intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. With 22 million pounds of plastic debris entering the Great Lakes each year, Chicago, the largest American city on the lakes, is a natural PSA target.

Chicago is the third most-populous city in the country, so a successful campaign to increase recycling there could have big implications for nationwide recycling rates. Increased recycling rates in the Windy City could bolster advocates to target other large metropolitan areas. 

Scaling back from the national level, the "It's All You" campaign could do a lot of good for Chicago. One city official is fighting a losing battle against hungry squirrels targeting waste collection bins. About 11% of Chicago's 1.4 million collection bins have been damaged by rodents, therefore a public campaign in favor of recycling could spur the city to take on the financial cost of replacing or repairing damaged bins.