Diversified Recycling

For more than 30 years, Diversified Recycling has been making a real difference in the greater Chicagoland area and in the environment. Stewardship is one of the core values of our family-owned and operated business. A state-of-the-art sorting and processing facility allows Diversified Recycling to collect and process recyclables from dozens of local communities.

Recognizing the effect proactive stewardship could have on our environment, we introduced our first curbside recycling program in 1990. Our original dual stream system required residents to separate their items at the curb. Drivers would then place each material type into separate compartments in the trucks. In 2000, we had the opportunity to improve customer service and increase the efficiency of drivers and routes by installing a single stream system. This meant no more recyclable sorting for customers. Instead, the system allowed us to collect co-mingled materials from residents and improve the efficiency of our service routes.

The state-of-the-art system was so complex that the recycling manager helped design a custom sorting machine that was tested in the Netherlands where the manufacturing company, Bollegraaf, was located. The system was then disassembled, transported in a number of sea containers, and reassembled in our plant. We monitor our community’s recycling needs closely, and our Material Recovery Facility (MRF) underwent a complete redesigns in 2010 and in 2018 with the goal of processing more material each day. Currently, Diversified Recycling can process over 600 tons per day.

That’s the kind of personalized care we put into our recycling program and all of our other services.