DENVER — City of Denver leaders say they're listening to people’s complaints who want to recycle and compost more but don’t always have access to those services.
In 2022, 70% of voters said yes to the Waste No More ordinance, to expand those services to large apartment complexes, commercial buildings and businesses.
Now roughly two years later, project leaders are revisiting it in front of Denver City Ccouncil to update it after hearing some concerns.
“We want to be environmentally friendly, we want to address climate change, but those big systems changes also come with complications,” Deputy Executive Director for the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency Jonathan Wachtel said.
Director of Policy in Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s office Tim Hoffman said his team met with all council members who started to voice some of their concerns.
“We've spoken with all 13 city council members various times. They've raised a lot of concerns about how this is going to impact community-based events in their neighborhoods. How it's going to impact small restaurants,” Hoffman said. “And so, we've tried to make sure that those type of concerns are being reflected in the proposals.”
The updated ordinance works on clarifying the terms and making sure it’s more efficient and streamlined, acknowledging it's been a long process trying to get this right and change an expansive system.
“We also want to make sure that it's actually something that can be put in place by businesses," Wachtel said. "There's a lot of logistics involved. One piece is cost. But also just finding space and re-imagining systems in existing buildings. You can imagine you have a system already in place for trash and maybe even for recycling, but now you're adding a third stream, potentially, and where do all those bins go? And how do you educate everybody, so they do it right?”
Right now, the city currently provides waste, recycling, and compost services to single-family homes and smaller apartment buildings, making up about 20% of Denver’s waste.
The other 80% comes from commercial buildings, large apartment buildings and construction/demolition, according to the city’s climate action office.
The proposal, that also clarifies exemptions, is set to go before the city council business committee on Wednesday. If approved, it will proceed to a full city council reading in two weeks, with a final vote expected on June 2.
“The mayor has been insistent throughout this entire process that these two things were not mutually exclusive,” Hoffman said. “You can have a climate friendly city and a business friendly city at the same time.”
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