So much of Coloradans’ discarded waste — averaging out to 5.6 pounds per person each day — winds up sitting in landfills thanks to a low recycling rate, but coming changes will outlaw most plastic grocery bags and foam food takeout containers that clog that stream.
That was one hopeful note sounded Tuesday as environmental advocates released a report showing that Coloradans have diverted 16% of waste from filling landfills over the last six years by recycling or composting — a rate that is half the national average and one of the worst in the country.
Eco-Cycle and the Colorado Public Interest Research Group, the nonprofits behind the annual research, say recycling rates in Colorado have remained low and stubbornly unmoving for years.
“Which is abysmal,” said Suzanne Jones, the executive director of Eco-Cycle.
The main reason for the lack of progress is a lack of access to recycling programs, said Rachel Setzke, a senior policy and research associate at Eco-Cycle. Only 35 communities in Colorado have guaranteed access to recycling in residential housing, though looser programs of varying types exist elsewhere.
But environmental nonprofit leaders said a slate of state laws enacted in recent years, paired with changes at the local level, could start to raise the recycling rate:
- Colorado’s Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, passed by lawmakers in 2021, will ban single-use plastic bags at checkout lines and foam takeout containers beginning Jan. 1. The law contains an exception that allows some locally based stores and restaurants to continue using plastic bags.
- As part of the same legislation, a state law banning local jurisdictions from implementing their own plastics ban will lift on July 1. That will allow them to enact even stricter rules than the state if they choose.
- A bill passed in 2022 created a statewide program that, beginning in 2026, will expand no-cost recycling for residents, public places, small businesses, schools and government buildings.
Unrecyclable material can be difficult to avoid, said Danny Katz, the executive director of CoPIRG. He recently ordered a set of towels online and each towel was individually wrapped in plastic.
“One of the easiest and best ways to improve that recycling rate is to not produce waste in the first place,” he said.
Reducing consumption of new products and eliminating single-use packaging is a way to reduce waste, the report says. Coloradans should aim for a “circular” economy in which products are reused or recycled after their intended purpose is fulfilled — reducing the need to produce more new products, the report argues.
In contrast, products in a “linear” economy are created, used and then trashed.
“Recycling and composting alone are not enough to address our waste problem,” Jones said.
Further policy changes that would reduce waste include implementing reusable eating utensils and trays at schools, giving tax breaks to food producers that donate food they can’t sell, and getting hotels to switch from single-use shampoos and soaps to refillable containers.
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