Clean Up - Give Back recycles plastic bags to "put plastic in its place." Accepted items include plastic grocery bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags, newspaper sleeves, plastic shipping envelopes, cereal bags, and outside plastic casing of toilet paper, paper towels and water bottles. Drop off items in the bins at City Hall or at Clean Up - Give Back's headquarters. Visit cleanupgiveback.org for more information.

In addition to participating in DEA Takeback Day every spring and fall, the Des Plaines Police Department accepts old and unneeded medications for disposal. Bring the medications to the Police Station (1418 Miner St.) and DPPD will safely and anonymously take care of them for you

The City of Des Plaines is proud to have an award-winning forestry team who cares for the 21,000 trees within our public rights-of-way. The City has been named a Tree City for over 35 years, vowing to support the plants, animals, pollinators and people who live here. Find more information at Tree City USA.

In 2023, Des Plaines was awarded the Illinois Arborist Association's Golden Leaf Award, which recognizes outstanding Arbor Day programs or projects. Every year on Arbor Day, the City of Des Plaines plants a tree at one of our local schools, educating students and expanding our urban canopy.

In addition, our community has been honored with the Growth Award from the Arbor Day Foundation on four occasions. This awards highlights communities that provide elevated tree care and community engagement. In 2024, the City added 800 new trees to our canopy.

Learn more about our outstanding forestry team here!

LRS collects single-stream recyclable items, which means most clean and non-contaminated household items will be considered recyclable. See the LRS flyer of acceptable and unacceptable items. 

Please note that LRS Carts are both blue. Trash carts are indicated with "Landfill Only" on the lid. Recycling carts have a lighter blue lid and have a sticker with recyclable materials.

Electronic Recycling 

Did you know you can recycle your electronics with Des Plaines Public Works? Drop off your old computers, phones, TVs or other electronics every Wednesday morning from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1111 Joseph J. Schwab Road (Public Works Garage). Household appliances are not accepted. Must be a Des Plaines resident to participate. Visit the Public Works page for more information.

In October of 2021, City Council passed a resolution to join the Greenest Region Compact. This provides a framework that guides our future sustainability policy decisions to make our community more resilient and vibrant. The Greenest Region Compact contains almost 50 high level municipal goals that will help ensure that Des Plaines and the rest of our region are equipped to deal with tomorrow’s challenges. The goals include ten overarching categories:

• Climate
• Economic Development
• Energy
• Land
• Leadership
• Mobility
• Municipal Operations
• Sustainable Communities
• Waste and Recycling
• Water

Additionally in October of 2021, City Council passed a resolution to align with the Climate Action Plan. More than 100 communities from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus helped develop the Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region, which identifies risks facing our community like increased flooding or dangerous heat waves, and provides solutions to help us adapt to and mitigate these challenges.

Limiting water use is a great everyday practice for people and businesses in our area. Visit our Water Conservation page for more information.

Want to track your water usage? Des Plaines has a water utility portal that provides virtually everything you need to detect and correct water usage issues. Through this interactive website, you can track your water usage through easy-to-read charts and graphs, receive tips on water conservation and more!

If you have a Sensus water meter, just visit desplainesil.gov/mywater to set up your account.

To learn more about composting and installing solar panels in Des Plaines, please view the City Code here.

In spring of 2024, Public Works introduced a 100% electric, zero emissions vehicle to their fleet and the Civic Center Municipal Parking Garage became home to two new electric vehicle chargers! Civic Center patrons who drive EVs can use the chargers with a fee.

Cook County’s Department of Environment and Sustainability (DES) has established the Businesses Reducing Impact on the Environment (BRITE) program. This free program helps businesses reduce their environmental impact and create a healthier environment for their employees, customers and community. DES offers on-site assessments to determine if businesses are eligible to apply for grant funding.

This funding would implement saving solutions and recommendations on ways to best modernize operations.

Go to cookcountyil.gov/BRITE to learn more and apply for an assessment.