With waste service contracts expiring in 2027, Evanston is launching a review of how trash and recycling get handled at apartment and condo buildings. City staff aim to draft a new contract proposal by the end of this year.

Brian Zimmerman, the city's solid waste coordinator, presented the review to the Environment Board on Friday, June 26, 2026. He outlined a three-part system he called fragmented: buildings with up to five units fall under residential hauling, condos with six or more units and at least 75% owner-occupancy get a flat-rate city program with twice-weekly trash and weekly recycling, and everything else lands in a commercial franchise program where buildings choose their own pickup frequency at variable rates.

The problem, Zimmerman told the board, is that building owners often don't know which program they qualify for, the city can't tell whether commercial-franchise properties are getting adequate service, and the wide range of building sizes creates logistical headaches. Containers are another sore spot: some are poorly placed, too accessible to non-residents, or hard for haulers to reach.

"I would imagine it's also probably a question on appetite from the community and City Council on how overbearing or forceful we are in these type of actions," Zimmerman said when board member Olin Wilson-Thomas asked about fines for buildings that repeatedly overload containers.

Enforcement is complicated because some properties push waste management responsibility onto tenants rather than handling it at the building level.

The city also plans to add new waste enclosure standards as part of a zoning code update. And Environment Board Chair Paula Scholl raised the idea of a special furniture pickup during Northwestern University student move-out weeks. Zimmerman said that would depend on Northwestern's participation, since the city relies on the university to reimburse extra waste services during those periods.

Next steps: the city will issue a request for information to waste haulers and survey condo associations, property managers, and owners. That data will shape a request for proposal targeted for late 2026.