St. Charles is Sponsoring a Holiday Lights Recycling Program

Do you have strings of holiday lights that don’t work, are hopelessly tangled, or are no longer wanted? Don’t throw them out where they’ll sit for years in a landfill—recycle them! America in Bloom - St. Charles, Elgin Recycling and the City of St. Charles have teamed up to offer a holiday lights recycling program to reduce the amount of lights that end up in landfills. Beginning November 1, St. Charles residents and businesses are welcome to drop off holiday lights (working or non-working) and electrical cords at convenient locations around town. Elgin Recycling will haul them away at no cost.

Acceptable Items:

• Traditional Holiday Lights
• LED Holiday Lights
• Italian Mini Holiday Lights
• Rope Lights
• Extension Cords

Not Accepted:

Holiday string lights that are attached to garland, live greens, wreaths, Christmas trees, lawn decorations/ornaments or other non-recyclables. These do not qualify for the program and will contaminate the collections.

Drop-Off Locations

Collection bins are located inside the buildings listed below. More locations coming soon. Items dropped-off are only to be put in designated bins. If a facility is closed, do not leave items anywhere outside the building.

St. Charles Public Works
1405 S. 7th Avenue, St. Charles
Monday – Friday
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Deposit them inside the street-level lobby. There is no drop off when the gates are closed.

Pottawatomie Community Center
8 North Avenue, St. Charles
Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday noon - 5 p.m.

Hickory Knolls Discover Center
3795 Campton Hills Road, St. Charles
Tuesday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Thursday 4 - 8 p.m.
Sunday noon - 4 p.m.

St. Charles History Museum
215 E Main Street, St. Charles
Tuesday – Saturday
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Blue Goose Market
300 S. 2nd Street, St. Charles
Monday – Sunday
7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Heinz Brothers Greenhouse Garden Center
2010 E. Main Street, St. Charles
Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Ace Hardware
2650 E. Main St, St. Charles
Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday 7:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

For more information, call City of St. Charles Public Works Department at 630-377-4405 or e-mail alwaysrecycle@yahoo.com. Elgin Recycling is providing the bins and will donate any net proceeds from recycling the items to the America in Bloom - St. Charles effort.