Wilmette residents who bought Hefty's orange ReNew bags to recycle Styrofoam, plastic grocery bags and food wrappers will need to use them up. The program is ending.

The Village of Wilmette announced that the Hefty ReNew program is being phased out and will shut down completely on June 30, 2027, according to an update on the village's website. Hefty cited challenges in developing the recycling infrastructure needed to keep the program running.

Hefty launched the ReNew partnership with Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) in early 2025, giving Wilmette households a way to recycle plastics that standard curbside bins don't accept. Residents purchased special orange bags, filled them with items like plastic utensils, straws, shipping packaging and food storage bags, then tossed the bags into their LRS recycling bins. The collected plastics were repurposed into plastic lumber through Firstar Fiber Corporation.

What happens next

Hefty will work with retailers to pull ReNew bags from shelves by the end of 2026. Some Target and Jewel locations in northwest Cook County and southern Lake County had stocked the bags. LRS will continue collecting filled orange bags through June 30, 2027.

After that date, residents sitting on unused bags can visit hefty.com/hefty-renew for return instructions and a refund. Hefty said it will coordinate responsible processing of any returned bags.

The village is urging residents not to buy more orange bags and instead use up what they already have before the deadline.

Glencoe offering free bags

Wilmette isn't the only North Shore community affected. The Village of Glencoe announced the same June 30, 2027 end date for its identical LRS-run program. Glencoe is going a step further: residents who want to keep recycling through the program's final months can pick up free orange bags at Glencoe Village Hall.

Wilmette's announcement did not mention a similar free-bag offer.

Glencoe is also encouraging residents to reduce plastic waste by choosing products with less packaging, using reusable alternatives and recycling through regular curbside programs.

The phase-out was not a village board decision. It originated with Hefty and LRS, which run the program across multiple Northern Illinois communities. Neither announcement detailed the specific infrastructure challenges behind the program's end.