Will County offers holiday lights recycling opportunities

JOLIET -- Got string lights with burnt out bulbs? Too tangled to use? Or lights that just don’t bring holiday joy anymore?

Will County offers an environmentally friendly way to dispose of them.

String lights are taken at all permanent electronic recycling centers, but through Jan. 31 they also will be collected at these three locations: Will County Office Building, 302 N. Chicago St.; Will County Land Use Department, 58 E. Clinton St., Joliet; and Sunny Hill Nursing Home of Will County, 421 Doris Ave.  

Will County Executive Larry Walsh said, “Enjoy the holiday season. But keep the health of the planet we all share in mind and recycle. If you can’t make it to one of the county buildings during business hours, remember the other sites with which we partner.”

Marta Keane, Recycling Program Specialist with the Will County Land Use Department’s Resource Recovery and Energy Division, reminds recyclers that not all lights may be accepted.

“Please do not bring incandescent, CFL or fluorescent lamps.  The CFL and fluorescent lights are accepted as part of Household Hazardous Waste collection events. Never place any of these items in curbside recycling programs.

“Glass light bulbs are not the same as glass bottles, just as glass vases and windows are made with different materials that are not easily recycled by anyone but the specific manufacturer,” she continued.  “We encourage people to bring string lights to our electronic drop-offs and CFL or fluorescent lamps to a Hazardous Waste collection.” 

The times and places where electronics can be recycled for free with proof of Will County residency are:

Lockport Public Works, 6 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays and Fridays, 17112 Prime Blvd., Lockport; Romeoville Public Works, 5 to 7 p.m. the first and third Tuesdays, 615 Anderson, Romeoville.

Also, the Peotone Police Department, 5 to 7 p.m. the first and third Wednesdays of the month, 208 E. Main, Peotone; New Lenox Township, 5 to 7 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesdays, 1100 S. Cedar Road, New Lenox; Channahon Township/Families of Faith, 5 to 7 p.m. first and third Thursdays, 24466 W Eames, Channahon; and Wilmington City Hall, 5 to 7 p.m. the second and fourth Thursdays, 1165 S. Water St., Wilmington.

All collection sites will be closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The Will County Land Use Department is led by Director David DuBois and is under the County Executive’s office.

For more information about recycling, visit www.willcountygreen.com.