Report: Colorado falling behind in recycling, few details about participation by Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The fifth annual State of Recycling report was released Monday, and it finds that Colorado's rate is "abysmal and stagnant" and ranks among the 20 worst states in the nation.
The report came from two organizations, Eco-Cycle and the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG).
Officials said that the results are despite some success stories in recycling -- with Boulder, Durango, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins having the state's highest recycling ratings.
Colorado Springs and Pueblo were mentioned as cities that have yet to establish widespread curbside recycling.
"We do reach out to them every year, but we don't get data," said Rachel Setzke, senior policy and research analyst for Eco-Cycle. "Great news, though. This year, for the first time, Colorado Springs has hired a sustainability coordinator. So that makes me hopeful that maybe in the next couple of years, we will get some data from there."
During an online conference detailing the report, Pueblo Public Works Director Andrew Hayes spoke about that city's recycling efforts.
"We need more resources," he said. "I only have two people doing that job. We're only open four days a week, and at least 200 vehicles a day show up. We even have people from Salida (100 miles west) and Walsenburg (50 miles south) bringing items to recycle."
The more successful communities have easy and wide access to curbside recycling or recycling drop-off sites, report officials said, as well as more solid waste collectors committed to recycling programs.
Kathy Andrew, who heads El Paso County's recycling program, pointed to other challenges.
"We had to stop taking plastic because people kept mixing up recyclables with non-recyclables,"she said. "What people should do is check to make sure that the place where you go, will take what you have. But landfill rates are so low in Colorado, in some cases it's easier and cheaper to just bury non-recyclables. It's better to do that than mix all kinds of plastics together."
However, the report said that the best way to improve recycling is to reduce unnecessary packaging and decrease the amount of materials that can't be recycled or are more difficult to recycle.
To that end, recycling lobbyists plan to work with state lawmakers in next year's legislative session to create a Producer Responsibility policy that has been successful around the world and is being considered by several U.S. states.
The policy -- through a fee paid by participating manufacturers -- would emphasize unnecessary packaging and waste, as well as expand resources to make recycling easier and far more available to citizens.
Recycling hasn't been popular in the past for many communities, manufacturers and solid waste haulers -- with a lack of markets for and profits from recyclables cited as primary factors, a situation has improved recently with a greater focus on developing U.S. markets.
Report officials said that manufacturers would be required to participate in the policy and have a stake in how it's operated, and manufacturers can see that it's a growing trend.
For example, a program to recycle house paint has been successful in Colorado Springs and Denver, officials said.
"They know it's coming, maybe dragging their feet a little bit," said Suzanne Jones, of Eco-Cycle. "But I also think there's a growing acceptance that this is going to become -- slowly but surely -- the new law of the land."
Monday is the start of America Recycles Day and Colorado Recycles Week.
Two other reports released Monday revealed a significant increase in packaging waste from restaurants as take-out meals have become more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 60% of Americans made incorrect assumptions about what items can and can't be recycled.
