Cortez and Dolores residents will now be receiving recycling free of cost through Colorado鈥檚 Extended Producer Responsibility program. The program, which works as an agreement between The Circular Action Alliance Colorado and the city of Cortez, is intended to make recycling more accessible without residents having to pay for the service.
It comes from Colorado鈥檚 Producer Responsibility Program for Statewide Recycling Act (HB22-1355), which shifts the cost of recycling covered packing and paper toward producers of those products rather than local government and taxpayers. 鈥淐ortez is already doing great work in recycling, and what this program, or what producer funding does, is that it helps communities like Cortez or Dolores continue that great work, just without the bill,鈥� said Rachel Zerowin, Colorado Communications Manager for Circular Action Alliance. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 exciting.鈥�
The program is part of a statewide push to increase Colorado recycling rates from 25% to 41% by 2030. One of the most important steps in achieving this goal is expanding access to residents so their collected materials can be used to create something new.