DENVER — Coloradans without access to recycling will soon get it, and those paying for it will soon see that cost passed on to producers.
Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) said the Producer Responsibility Program — bringing free recycling to households across the state in hopes of increasing Colorado's recycling rate — is ramping up after it started in earnest last month.
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Similar to plans in other states, the companies producing recyclable material like cardboard will now have to pay for the cost of recycling services in Colorado, instead of households or communities.
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CDPHE has designated Circular Action Alliance (CAA) as the Producer Responsibility Organization to carry out the program. The non-profit funds and manages the program by collecting dues from producers in order to reimburse local governments and private businesses’ recycling service costs.
Interchange 360 is another Producer Responsibility Organization handling containers not accepted by traditional household recycling, like motor oil and antifreeze containers.
The CDPHE said the plan includes “a statewide public education and outreach campaign on recycling,” and CAA is “in the early stages of executing” some reimbursement contracts for residential recycling.
The department said those reimbursements will start later this year, with exact timing dependent on factors like where people live and “the availability of recycling services and infrastructure in those areas,” adding that some rural areas “will require infrastructure improvements before they can receive the full benefits of this program.”
Infrastructure improvements are already happening in the Denver metro area. Denver’s Republic Services recycling facility is leaning into artificial intelligence robot technology to more efficiently sort materials.
“When people understand that recycling is free, we're going to see the volumes go up,” Republic Services General Manager for Post Collection Operations Steve Derus told Denver7 last month. “Landfills have limited capacity, they're very expensive to expand or build new ones. So the more we can keep out of landfills by running facilities like this, the sustainability circular economy just grows and grows, and that's what we want to be part of.”
Earlier this month, Waste Management opened a $110 million facility in Aurora that can process 45 tons of recyclable material an hour, adding to the area’s local capacity.
The Producer Responsibility Program began with a bill Colorado lawmakers passed in 2022.
