Bill Text: IL SR0105 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Declares April 19 to April 22, 2021 as Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Week.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-04-26 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton [SR0105 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-SR0105-Introduced.html
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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, According to the U.S. Environmental Protection | ||||||
| 3 | Agency (EPA), waste rotting in landfills can result in high | ||||||
| 4 | emissions of methane gas, a precursor gas of the harmful air | ||||||
| 5 | pollutant tropospheric ozone; additionally, methane is an | ||||||
| 6 | ignitable gas and a contributor to global warming; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, The Illinois Environmental Council and the | ||||||
| 8 | Illinois Environmental Protection Agency report that there are | ||||||
| 9 | currently 42 landfills in Illinois; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, The alternative to collecting waste in a landfill | ||||||
| 11 | is often incinerating waste in a furnace; certain sites in | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois, such as the site in the city of Clinton, incinerate | ||||||
| 13 | potentially harmful medical waste only; other sites, such as | ||||||
| 14 | the site in Sauget, east of St. Louis, incinerate both | ||||||
| 15 | hazardous and nonhazardous waste; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, Incinerating waste is often thought to be the | ||||||
| 17 | remedy to landfills and their harmful by-products; however, | ||||||
| 18 | burning waste has its own host of malefactors as burning | ||||||
| 19 | plastics produces toxic substances called dioxins; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, The World Health Organization notes that dioxins | ||||||
| 21 | are highly toxic; they can cause reproductive and | ||||||
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| 1 | developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere | ||||||
| 2 | with hormones, and cause cancer; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, RecyclingBins.Co.UK notes that gases from | ||||||
| 4 | incineration cause air pollution and contribute to a | ||||||
| 5 | phenomenon called acid rain, where the rain's pH balance is | ||||||
| 6 | askew, which can harm natural wildlife, forestry, aquaponics, | ||||||
| 7 | and agriculture; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency also | ||||||
| 9 | notes that ashes of incineration often carry heavy metals and | ||||||
| 10 | toxins that can make surrounding ground water carcinogenic; | ||||||
| 11 | and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Carcinogenic ground water often contains chemical | ||||||
| 13 | compounds known as nitrates which, when ingested by humans, | ||||||
| 14 | are converted naturally into nitrites, which can dramatically | ||||||
| 15 | reduce the blood's ability to carry oxygen; nitrates are | ||||||
| 16 | especially harmful to children and infants under 6 months; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, According to the Illinois Environmental Council, | ||||||
| 18 | Illinois' current recycling programs divert over 7 million | ||||||
| 19 | tons of useful materials from landfills and save enough energy | ||||||
| 20 | to heat and light 578,000 homes; additionally, recycling in | ||||||
| 21 | Illinois reduces water pollution by 21,500 tons of various | ||||||
| 22 | contaminants and reduces air pollution by 131,000 tons of | ||||||
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| 1 | various contaminants each year; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Recycling in our homes, our schools, and our | ||||||
| 3 | workplaces can help reduce the amount of waste that is | ||||||
| 4 | transferred to landfill sites; reducing the amount of waste we | ||||||
| 5 | produce can have positive effects on our communities and our | ||||||
| 6 | State; therefore, be it
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| 7 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | ||||||
| 8 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare April 19 to | ||||||
| 9 | April 22, 2021 as Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Week.
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