TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE

Increasing Denver's recycling and compost rate is one of the fastest, easiest steps we can take to reach our climate goals. 

Extracting natural resources from the earth to make materials like paper, cans, bottles, and concrete uses a huge amount of energy -- but recycling cuts emissions by reducing the amount of virgin materials we need. When organic waste is sent to a landfill, lots of methane is released, but if it gets composted instead, methane emissions are significantly reduced. Plus, adding compost to land makes it more fertile and able to store more carbon from the atmosphere!

RECYCLING FOR ALL

Everyone in Denver should have the ability to recycle and compost, yet currently the city doesn’t require apartment complexes with eight or more units to provide either service to residents. To cut costs, many apartment property managers choose to only provide trash service, leaving many residents feeling disempowered or forced to drive their recyclables to a drop-off facility or seek out a private composting service. 

ZERO WASTE FOR BUSINESSES

Denver businesses generate around 55 percent of the city’s municipal waste, yet aren’t required to recycle or compost. Waste No More would require all businesses — including apartment buildings, condos, restaurants, hospitals, hotels and sporting arenas, to provide recycling pickup services. Food-waste producing businesses would also have to subscribe to commercial compost service. The policy would also mandate that all construction and demolition waste must be properly disposed of and it would require recycling and composting at all city-permitted events, such as City Park Jazz or Pride Fest.

An increase in recycling will help Denver’s economy as well as our environment. Recycling creates nine times more jobs per ton than sending trash to the landfills. These jobs include sorting through recycling and compost, driving waste collection trucks, hosting recycling and compost trainings for employees, managing zero waste stations at events, and more! 

Despite China’s decision to stop importing U.S. recyclables, recyclable materials are still being recycled in Denver, and there are no reports of Denver recyclables being sent to landfills. Measure 306 includes mandated waste sorting education for tenants and employees, which will be critical for ensuring that we are able to recycle and compost for decades to come.