At the December 16, 2019 Village Board meeting, Village officials approved a five-year franchise agreement for a residential and commercial food scrap collection program that, beginning January 1, 2020, will be offered to Skokie residents by Collective Resource of Evanston. Skokie residents and business owners who subscribe to the new service will receive a lidded, lined five-gallon bucket or 32-gallon toter cart for separated food scraps. Customers will select weekly, biweekly or monthly collection. After collection, the food scrap is transported to a commercial composting facility. The service fee varies depending on container size and collection frequency, with the franchise agreement securing a 35 percent rate reduction for Skokie residents. For example, customers will pay $27 per month for weekly collection of a five-gallon bucket of food scraps. This price reflects a 35 percent discount off of the regular $42 rate for this service. An average family of four generates 37 pounds of food scrap each week that could be composted instead of sent to a landfill. For more information email info@skokie.org or call Skokie Public Works at 847/933-8427.