City of Chicago Recycling Drop-off Center

Simple drop-​off, and the gate is open late so you can drop off at a reasonable time.

As a Chicago apartment-​dweller, I do not have residential recycling service.
Do I have condo-​owning neighbors who do? Yes, but it would be wrong to use their bins.
Do I work in Evanston, which had a recycling drop-​off center on Oakton until earlier this year? Well yes, but non-​residents like me are the reason it closed.
Do I have parents who allow my magazines, bottles, cans, and other magazines to commingle with their suburban recycles? Yes, but oy, the inconvenience.
Enter the City of Chicago Recycling Drop-​off Center. The «center» is actually a grouping of huge blue receptacles in the lot of the Streets & Sanitation office. But it couldn’t be simpler. There’s a list of allowables on the side and you do not need to separate; all you do is open the lid and fling in your stuff.
The web site says it’s available during daylight hours, so it’s possible they close the gate after dark — I don’t know. This is also where they keep the massive stockpile of road salt. Word to the wise: resist the temptation to climb that big white pyramid. And, note that Ravenswood is two-​way between Pratt and Devon, so you can get there from the north or south.
Recycle on!