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April 22, 2008

Elizabeth Kaufman

Secretary of State Jesse White Announces License Plate Recycling Program

Secretary of State Jesse White announced a license plate recycling program available to motorists Tuesday, Earth Day. The new program allows motorists to recycle their expired and obsolete license plates at vehicle facilities statewide.

“The program will reduce energy usage as well as air and water pollution,” White said. “We want to help everyone do his or her part when it comes to recycling, and we are pleased to offer this service to our customers.”

All 136 facilities will be equipped with License Plate Recycling Bins, as well as posters that highlight the program.

Currently license plates are made of recycled aluminum, but prior to 2004 the plates were made of galvanized steel, both of which can be recycled.

In addition to being environmentally friendly, the recycling bin program guards against the misuse of old plates that are not properly discarded. The Secretary of State’s office uses a large shredding device at the Springfield warehouse to destroy the plates and then recycle them.

The license plate recycling program is one of the latest efforts to make Illinois’ license plate program more environmentally friendly. Other efforts to “go green” in the office include using recycled packaging for license plates, recycled paper envelopes for renewals and adding language to the new plate production contract requiring all new plates to contain recycled aluminum when possible.