City of Lake Forest, IL

SWALCO Community Recycling ProgramsLake Forest partners with the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) to provide a variety of programs, including:

• Clothing & Textile Recycling
• Shoe Recycling
• Residential Electronics Recycling
• Food Scrap Drop-off Site
• Chemical Waste Disposal Options
• Special Materials Collection including Latex Paint, Single-use Propane Cylinders, and Fire Extinguishers. Click here for more information.

Residents can also dispose of hazardous waste year round in two ways:

• Residents can schedule an appointment to drop off hazardous waste at the SWALCO permanent facility in Gurnee, IL or
• Residents can drop off hazardous waste at mobile collection events held at various locations throughout Lake County.  

For information on these programs, please visit the SWALCO/Lake Forest web portal online. You can also sign up online to receive announcements about SWALCO Programs and Events by following the link.  

Paint DisposalLatex Paint
Latex Paint is not accepted at Household Chemical Waste (HCW) events because it is considered non-hazardous. Listed below are various ways to dispose of it:

• Recycle the paint at Lake Forest Hardware.  Call ahead at (847) 615-8949 for details and costs.
• Donate or give the paint to someone. Local groups such as schools, small theaters, religious organizations, etc. might be willing to take unused paint.
• Keep the paint. With another layer, the paint may be gone. Or paint something else.
• As a final option, you can prepare your latex paint for disposal through the regular trash cycle.

To prepare your latex paint, please complete the following steps:
Solidify the Latex Paint - Take the lids off the paint cans, add an absorbent such as kitty litter, sand, Oil-Dry or shredded paper. When the liquid paint is absorbed, leave the lids off the paint cans and dispose of them in your regular waste (not recycling) for pick-up. If the paint is already dried up in the can, leave the lid off and place it in the regular waste. If you have full cans of paint, simply divide them into emptier cans to solidify. Remember to leave the lids off the paint cans when placing in your waste receptacle. The haulers do not have time to take the lids off to see if the paint is dried out and they will not take them.

Oil-Based Paint
Oil-based paint is considered a hazardous waste and must be disposed of as directed below.

SWALCO Community Recycling Programs
Lake Forest partners with the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) to provide a variety of programs, including:

• Clothing & textile recycling
• Shoe recycling
• Residential electronics recycling
• Food scrap drop-off site
• Chemical waste disposal options

There are two ways in which residents can dispose of hazardous waste:

• Residents can schedule an appointment to drop off hazardous waste at the SWALCO permanent facility in Gurnee, IL or
• Residents can drop off hazardous waste at mobile collection events held at various locations throughout Lake County (April - November).

For information on these programs, please visit the SWALCO/Lake Forest web portal online.