{"id":13767,"date":"2026-01-28T17:13:35","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-testing-single-stream-recycling-method\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:41:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:41:04","slug":"cortez-testing-single-stream-recycling-method","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-testing-single-stream-recycling-method\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez testing single-stream recycling method"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Colby
Colby Earley, the city of Cortez\u2019s refuse and recycling superintendent, talks with Latanya Davis, floor and line manager at La Plata County\u2019s Phoenix Recycling material recovery facility. (Colby Earley\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Cortez is running a three-week trial of a recycling collection method known as single-stream recycling to gather data that could help improve its recycling program in the future.<\/p>\n

In single-stream recycling, all recyclable items are placed into one bin or truck instead of being separated by type. City officials stressed that this is not the same as \u201cwishcycling,\u201d in which people throw in items that are not accepted, hoping they will be recycled because they display a recycling symbol.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because something says \u2018recyclable\u2019 doesn\u2019t mean it is,\u201d Refuse\/Recycling Superintendent Colby Earley told The Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Residents are asked to continue separating recyclables from trash as they normally do during the trial. The mixed collection is being used only to collect data at this stage. Earley said the first trial load received \u201chigh marks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCortez residents do a great job in educating themselves and maintaining high quality, and we want to mirror our residents\u2019 efforts,\u201d Earley said. \u201cWe want to continue this trend, no matter what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial will help the city collect information on the volume and quality of recyclable materials, along with other data points. That information could be used in reports to seek funding later. The city is also working with the Montezuma County Landfill to explore the possibility of building a future transfer station.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we have a preferred method of moving our clean single-stream materials to a material recovery facility, like the one in La Plata County owned by Phoenix Recycling, we will then look into converting routes to single-stream collection,\u201d Earley said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The polishing area at Phoenix Recycling, where remaining recyclables are hand-picked from the conveyor belt. \u201cA clean belt is a good sign of the quality of the material,\u201d Colby Earley said. Remaining trash drops into a pit for disposal. (Colby Earley\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

If the trial is successful and an effective system is identified, the city may consider switching to regular single-stream pickup in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cSingle stream allows for economies of scale, and the clean collection methods should ensure that a high capture rate moves the material to market with little to no residuals per load being the goal,\u201d Earley said.<\/p>\n

He added that buying products with high-value, easy-to-recycle packaging helps create demand for recyclable materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy go-to tag line is, \u2018There is no magical place called away,\u2019\u201d Earley said. \u201cWe want to empower everyone to understand the cost, either up front or behind the scenes, of what it takes to deal with their trash and recycling. The more local we can keep it, the better off we will all be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial runs for three weeks, including this week and next. Residents may see recycling loaded into what appears to be a garbage truck, but that is only for the data collection phase. Earley emphasized that residents should continue separating recyclables as usual during the trial.<\/p>\n

For more details, visit www.cortezco.gov\/340\/recycling <\/a>or www.montezumacounty.org\/landfill\/recycling<\/a>, which includes a video explaining recycling basics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents asked to continue separating recycling during three-week trial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[364,21,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13767"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19150,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13767\/revisions\/19150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13767"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}