BRIDGEPORT — Long just a fable in the city’s oldest neighborhood, the blue-cart recycling program will officially roll out in Bridgeport starting next month.
The news was announced on the website for the 11th Ward, which includes the Bridgeport, Canaryville and Armour Square neighborhoods.
The program will begin Aug. 12 or Aug. 19, depending on which zone a residence falls into. Residents will receive a mailed postcard notifying them which day service will begin.
Residents with curbside garbage service will have their blue cart emptied the same day as the trash. Those with alley garbage service will have their blue carts emptied during the week of collection. A program FAQ can be found on the city's Streets and Sanitation website.
Currently, residents wanting to recycle had to schlep their items to drop-off centers scattered throughout the city. In Bridgeport and McKinley Park, the closest facilities are the Near South Drop-Off Center at 1752 S. Clark St. or the City Facility Campus at 1424 W. Pershing Road.
A complete map of drop-off sites can be found here.
Cook County Commissioner John Daley, Ald. James Balcer (11th) and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Patrick Thompson in a statement said they were “excited about the city’s recycling program and we feel that any effort to make our communities and environment cleaner is outstanding.”
The rollouts are part of the recycling program’s expansion, which comes courtesy of a $2.6 million grant from Coca-Cola. The grant, supplied through the soft-drink company's philanthropic foundation via the Keep America Beautiful campaign, will go to buy 50,000 blue carts and promote citywide expansion of the program.
The Bridgeport neighborhood has roots stretching back to the early 1800s, when it was called Lee's Place, a farm that supplied food to nearby Fort Dearborn and early settlers.
