Report finds that Colorado’s recycling rate is still lagging — but poised for a breakthrough
New statewide policies to reduce wasteful packaging and ramp up recycling could double Colorado's recycling rate.
It’s long past time Colorado improved its dismal 16% recycling and composting rate. Now, we finally have the tools to make it happen.
On Nov. 15, CoPIRG and our partners at EcoCycle released the sixth annual “State of Recycling and Composting” report. The findings were mixed: On the one hand, Colorado’s recycling and composting rate has remained just half the national average. But on the other, our state has a clearer path than ever before to at least double this rate in the coming years — thanks in large part to CoPIRG-backed actions such as last summer’s passage of a producer responsibility law, which will make plastic producers financially responsible for dealing with the waste they create.
“With recent landmark progress on the state and local levels, Colorado has all the tools for a transformation that will help all of us use less and recycle more,” said Danny Katz, CoPIRG executive director. “Our new producer responsibility law will help reduce the unnecessary packaging that is currently flooding our homes and divert literally tons of materials away from landfills.”
Topics
Updates
Lobby day secures bipartisan support for the Plastic Pellet Free Water Act
Biden administration finalizes lightbulb efficiency rules
Last coal-fired power plant in New England slated to close
Gov. Kotek signs bill to support Oregon’s Marine Reserves Program
