Chicago pilot successful, but adds operating costs.

According to local press reports, a curbside recycling program in one Chicago neighborhood resulted in an 80 percent participation rate. But the program would cost an additional $35 million in operating expenses if the entire city converted to the new method, which could make it cost prohibitive.

That price tag did not stop 26 of the 50 Chicago City Council members from signing on as co-sponsors of a measure that Alderman Joe Moore proposed in mid-January that seeks to expand the program throughout the city, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

Residents participating in the southwest side neighborhood pilot program have been placing their recyclables in 96-gallon containers since the spring of 2005. These containers are collected once a month and delivered to Resource Management, a recycling facility in Chicago Ridge.

The 80 percent participation rate for the southwest side neighborhood pilot surpasses the 13 percent participation rate for Chicago's blue bag program. With the blue bag program, Chicago residents place blue bags filled with their recyclables in with their regular trash pickup.

Mayor Richard Daley's administration says the city cannot afford to expand the pilot recycling program, which costs more because trucks must make a second run to collect recyclables, and Moore says it is unlikely council will fight Daley en the issue.

The article did not mention how much additional commodity revenue an 80 percent participation rate would yield for the city. According to the Tribune, Moore's proposal notes that Chicago now recycles only 8 percent of its municipal solid waste.