Mayor Richard Daley wants to add recycling to the list of Chicago's privatized entities that already includes the Chicago Skyway, parking meters and Taste of Chicago.
A city official said contracts are still under review, but according to a union leader, Daley hopes to sign a 10-year contract as early as next month to give Waste Management control of most of Chicago's recycling.
Lou Phillips, business manager of Laborers Local 1001, told the Sun-Times he heard the city would be divided into six zones. Waste Management would handle four of them. Dumpster supplier Brackenbox would get at least one.
The deal, which needs a two-thirds vote by the City Council, would help provide curbside recycling to more than 350,000 homes without it.
But Phillips wants to keep the work in-house and says privatizing the program might lead to fees for residents.
“The citizens will be left holding the bag," he told the Sun-Times.
Phillips lobbied aldermen to impose a $10 monthly fee for recycling pickups to fund the switch to curbside recycling.