{"id":24774,"date":"2024-11-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-still-has-a-middling-recycling-rate-but-residents-are-wasting-less-overall\/"},"modified":"2024-11-17T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T14:00:00","slug":"colorado-still-has-a-middling-recycling-rate-but-residents-are-wasting-less-overall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-still-has-a-middling-recycling-rate-but-residents-are-wasting-less-overall\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado still has a middling recycling rate, but residents are wasting less overall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Colorado\u2019s
Colorado\u2019s recycling rate is still less than half the national average, but residents produced slightly less municipal waste in 2023.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new report shows Colorado\u2019s recycling rate is still less than half the national average, but residents produced slightly less municipal waste in 2023, offering a small bit of hope to recycling and compost advocates.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Public Interest Research Group and Eco-Cycle, two environmental nonprofits focused on waste management, released the eighth edition of their annual recycling scorecard on Thursday. While the groups can\u2019t yet explain the slight drop in the overall waste stream, they said the reduction is still good news.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve seen this in our data, and we have to do a lot more research to see what might be the driving force behind the reduction,\u201d said Randy Moorman, the director of community campaigns for Eco-Cycle, said at a news conference in Denver. \u201cIt\u2019s a small reduction and obviously we want to see more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report analyzes data from the state health department and local municipalities. In 2023, it found Colorado sent nearly 6.9 million tons of municipal solid waste to landfills, recycling centers and compost facilities. That\u2019s a 3% decrease from 2018 when the state started fully tracking waste and recycling levels.<\/p>\n

The drop also occurred despite Colorado\u2019s rising population. Per capita, the total tonnage of municipal waste decreased from 6.8 pounds per person per day to 6.4 pounds per person per day, marking a 6% decline from 2018 to 2023.<\/p>\n

Moorman is now trying to figure out what\u2019s behind the decline and whether it\u2019s a long-term trend. Colorado fully banned plastic bags and polystyrene takeout containers at the start of 2024, so any impact from the policy isn\u2019t measured in the data covering 2023. It\u2019s also possible the drop is due to nationwide economic factors, but Moorman said inconsistent data tracking practices in different states make it tough to identify a broader pattern.<\/p>\n

Colorado, however, hasn\u2019t seen any improvement in its poor recycling rate.<\/p>\n

While overall waste has decreased, the state only diverted 15.5% of waste away from landfills in 2023, less than half the national average of 32.2 percent. The rate also marks a decline from a 17.2% recycling rate in 2018.<\/p>\n

Some Colorado communities are also far better than others at keeping waste out of landfills. Boulder, for example, boasts a state-leading 52% recycling and composting rate for both its residential and commercial waste streams. Aspen keeps 41% of its waste out of landfills, the report shows.<\/p>\n

The report notes many of those communities have adopted similar policies, like universal curbside recycling and \u201cpay-as-you-throw\u201d programs, which charge residents higher rates for larger trash bins.<\/p>\n

Environmental advocates are also hopeful an upcoming state initiative will help boost recycling. In 2022, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill to authorize a new producer responsibility program, which will require large manufacturers to pay a fee based on the type of packaging for products sold in Colorado. The revenue will then help cover the cost of recycling programs for rural residents and apartment dwellers, who often lack a way to recycle cardboard boxes, aluminum cans or any other material.<\/p>\n

At the news conference, First Gentlemen Marlon Reis said the law will provide free recycling access to all Colorado residents when it launches in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this work is to preserve the way of life that, as Coloradans, we all treasure. Our glorious outdoors, our fresh air and water, and the dazzling tapestry of plants and animals with whom we share our state,\u201d Reis said.<\/p>\n

To read more from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado\u2019s recycling rate is still less than half the national average, but residents produced slightly less municipal waste in 2023.du1-i-syn A new report shows Colorado\u2019s recycling rate is still less than half the national average, but residents produced slightly less municipal waste in 2023, offering a small bit of hope to recycling and compost advocates. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,1030,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-24774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-environment","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24774","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=24774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24774"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=24774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}