The state remains stuck at 16% reuse, only half the national average, but new laws on plastic bags and Styrofoam containers may boost efforts
recycling rates
Posted inEnvironment
How will Colorado’s new bag fee impact your life? Just look to the cities that already have bag charges.
As the state follows many local communities with a 10-cent plastic fee on Jan. 1, and a ban in 2024, conservationists count up the benefits.
Posted inEnvironment
Denver recycling already struggling before major strain of expansion, audit says
City Auditor cites major staffing gaps, aging truck fleet and other problems he says threaten rollout of pay-as-you-throw waste plan.
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Coloradans need somewhere to safely dump old computers and TVs. This new Denver service is trying to help.
Craig McNeal wrestles the Toshiba wall-mounted TV — once futuristic, now problematic — onto the recycling warehouse’s scale. While still wrangling it into position, he guesses: 60 pounds? The impassive scale reveals just how big is the challenge ahead: 64 pounds, to be precise, of obsolete plastic, metal and microchips that must be taken apart […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: The overly broad recycling bill on the governor’s desk deserves a veto
Lawmakers in Denver have advanced a bill to the Governor’s desk that would effectively shift the costs of recycling from local government to manufacturers, distributors, and everyday consumers. House Bill 22-1355, more commonly known as extended producer responsibility, or EPR, is not the right policy approach to bolster Colorado’s recycling efforts. We urge Gov. Polis […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers just passed legislation creating a statewide recycling program. Here’s how it would work.
Colorado would have a statewide recycling program funded by fees charged to companies that produce packaging under a bill passed by the legislature Wednesday. Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign House Bill 1355 into law. The fees would be used to provide recycling services to most communities and residents across Colorado in the hopes […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: To encourage recycling, you need someone to buy recycled materials
Among my great joys is an annual pilgrimage to the trout streams of Colorado. Last summer, the rivers were low, and fishing restrictions were in place to not further stress the fish. While walking the banks of the Roaring Fork, worrying about what climate change will mean for my favorite pastime, I found another unpleasant […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Denver wants a major recycling expansion. But it needs to start charging fees to get it done.
Denver residents would pay a monthly fee for garbage hauling while getting recycling and compost bins picked up weekly as part of the deal, in a proposed major overhaul of waste handling aimed at lifting local and statewide recycling rates closer to the national average. Residents of single-family homes and apartments up to seven units […]
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Colorado is pretty lame when it comes to recycling, actually
Our wonderful state of Colorado is filled with snow-covered peaks, rushing rivers, hiking trails filled with eager outdoor enthusiasts, and . . . some of the lowest recycling rates in the nation. Yes, counter to our green reputation, Coloradans recycle only 15% of our waste, less than half the national rate of 32%, and far […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Environment, News
Glass can be recycled infinitely. Here’s how it works in Colorado’s “closed loop.”
The life cycle of a glass bottle — from creation to use to disposal to reconstitution — can all happen within Colorado, and theoretically continue forever. Glass that’s been recycled first goes to a material recycling facility, such as Eco-Cycle or GFL Environmental, along with paper, plastic, aluminum and everything else in the single-stream recycling […]