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Throw Like A Pro: A Kankakee Essential Guide to Understanding Waste
- Stephanie Vanderweide
- Jan 30
- 3 min read
Kankakee is more than just where we live—it’s our home. Keeping it beautiful means being mindful of what we throw away. While most of us want to do the right thing, recycling can sometimes feel like a guessing game. Did you know that one in four items placed in recycling bins doesn't actually belong there? When we "wish-cycle" (tossing things in hoping they’ll be recycled), we often contaminate the whole load, sending perfectly good materials straight to the landfill.
Here is how you can recycle properly in Kankakee and why it matters more than you might think.
The Kankakee "Big Three": What to Throw
In Kankakee, our curbside program with Republic Services focuses on the "Big Three." If it doesn’t fit these categories, keep it out of the blue bin:
The Two Golden Rules
To ensure your efforts aren't wasted, follow the Empty, Clean, Dry mantra:
Dry, Clean, Empty: Let items air dry. Wet paper cannot be recycled. Give jars a quick rinse to remove food residue. One peanut butter jar can ruin an entire truckload of paper! No leftover soda or half-eaten yogurt.
Don’t Bag It: Never put your recyclables in plastic bags. They tangle in the sorting machinery and can shut down an entire plant.
Image Source: Republic Services https://recyclingsimplified.com/
The Reality of Landfills: Plastic's Long Legacy
Why take the extra 30 seconds to rinse a can? Because items that end up in the landfill don't just "go away." They stay for generations:
A Lifetime of Waste: A standard plastic water bottle takes roughly 450 years to decompose in a landfill environment.
Centuries of Coffee: The plastic-lined cups and lids from your morning coffee can take up to 30 years to break down.
Infinite Aluminum: Unlike plastic, aluminum and glass can be recycled infinitely without losing quality.
Landfill Limits: Roughly 80% of items currently buried in American landfills could have been recycled.
The 60-Day Loop: A properly recycled soda can is often back on a store shelf as a new product in as little as 60 days.
Special Waste & Local Drop-Offs
Some things are recyclable but not in your curbside bin.
Batteries (New Illinois Law!): As of January 1, 2026, the Illinois Battery Stewardship Act makes it illegal to toss household batteries in the trash or curbside recycling. Residents in the 60901 area can utilize several free drop-off locations:
Interstate Batteries: Located at 477 S Washington Ave, Kankakee.
Lowe's: The Bradley location at 860 N Kinzie Ave accepts rechargeable batteries.
Best Buy: The Bourbonnais location at 1584 N State Route 50 has dedicated bins for rechargeable and lithium-ion batteries.
Staples: The Bourbonnais store at 1585 N State Route 50 accepts rechargeable batteries for free.
Belson Steel Center Scrap: Accepts both car batteries and rechargeable batteries at 1685 N State Route 50, Bourbonnais.
Electronics: Kankakee County partners with Belson Steel Center Scrap for a Free E-Waste Program. Residents can drop off TVs, computers, and monitors free of charge with residency verification.
Yard Waste: Grass and sticks are collected seasonally (April 1 – Nov 30) but must be in biodegradable bags or stickered containers—never in the recycling bin!
Naperville Hazardous Waste: This includes household chemicals, oil-based paints, flammables, vapes. Click here to learn more about disposing of hazardous waste at the Naperville facility.
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