County environmental staff on Nov. 14 presented a regional public-education effort aimed at increasing recycling participation and reducing contamination, describing the program and how Kane County plans to use its portion of a $2 million U.S. EPA grant.

County staff said the regional project awarded roughly $2,000,000 in total and that each participating local partner would receive a subaward near $83,000 to support localized outreach and activities. "We want to have these high visibility ads capturing attention and interest," Lauren Abbott, account manager at Good Marketing, said during the presentation, describing planned billboards, transit ads, social media placements and short video spots featuring the campaign character, "Loop." Abbott said the campaign will drive residents to the site feedthecart.org for detailed "do's and don'ts" of recycling.

Why it matters: Local officials said the campaign is intended to counter persistent recycling myths and reduce the contamination that strains local processing facilities. County staff and the marketing partner emphasized a two-track approach: broad mass-media awareness supplemented with targeted local tactics in municipalities with below-average recycling rates.

Good Marketing described early results from a kickoff press event: 31 stories in the first 48 hours and roughly 9,500,000 impressions from that earned coverage. The campaign will run in four "flights" through May 2027, with an initial flight through December to capture holiday audiences and later flights in spring and late 2026 through early 2027. Abbott said the first phase focuses on broad awareness, with later flights refining "do's and don'ts" messaging based on what the team learns.

Local uses of the county's subaward that staff proposed include a Spanish translation of a county green guide, targeted direct-mail or hyper-targeted social ads in low-performing areas (county staff identified parts of unincorporated areas and municipalities such as Carpentersville), cart-tagging pilot programs, seasonal outreach staff, and presence at community events. Staff said one practical priority will be clarifying which recyclable materials should not go into curbside carts (for example, many electronics and batteries require special collection) and using PR stories and the campaign website to explain the recycling process.

Officials asked whether Kane County paid for the ad placements. County staff said the marketing firm paid for ad placements using grant funds administered by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; the county's subaward remains available to spend on locally targeted activities. The staff presentation included examples of the campaign creative and a 15-to-30-second animated spot; the campaign's mascot, Loop, speaks in the spot: "Boy, do I love eating recyclables. Nom. Humans, don't throw away your recyclables. Feed them to your cart instead."

Next steps: Staff asked members for feedback on local tactics and said they would return with specific proposals for using the county's approximately $83,000 subaward, and that the campaign will collect website visits, ad impressions, clicks and social engagement as primary measures of reach.