By admin 
If the recycling-minded people of Cortez see a new-and-improved hauler coming for their plastic waste in coming months, they can thank the first tangible benefits of a fee on packaging producers passed by the 2022 legislature.
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A more efficient truck and other new features made possible by reimbursements to Cortez from the collected fees should help the Four Corners town boost recycling rates and put off the need to site an expensive new landfill, according to town officials.
“It’s really going to help, at least give us the opportunity to improve our infrastructure,” said Colby Earley, recycling supervisor for Cortez, population 9,100. “Being in rural Colorado, one of the things that makes us unique is we have to think outside of the box. So a lot of people that move to this area are surprised by how much we actually do offer because we have been able to kind of think out of the box.”
Cortez, which also serves the town of Dolores, joins Oak Creek as the first towns that will get reimbursement through the “producer responsibility fee” authorized by the legislature in 2022.
The law set up a governing body made up of heavy producers of consumer packaging that would set fees on themselves to fund a statewide recycling expansion. Cities and nonprofit recyclers around the state are now able to apply for reimbursement for operations and expansions of their recycling programs, or to establish recycling in areas without service.
Golden and other cities will be accepted into the reimbursement program soon, according to officials of the Circular Action Alliance, which is administering the fees and disbursals.
Backers of the law had a number of aims: Give producers incentives to reduce packaging at the source; improve Colorado’s relatively poor landfill diversion rates with more recycling services; and, encourage more local sorting and manufacturing businesses utilizing recycled materials for new packaging or other goods, as a “circular” economy.
The reimbursements are heading to some Colorado cities even as the future of the program remains in legal limbo.
Two Colorado lawsuits, and more in other states that passed similar fees, are challenging the system.
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In August, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors asked a federal judge to stop the launch of Colorado’s program in U.S. District Court in Denver, following a similar lawsuit filed in the spring by the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association. The latest challenge is being handled by the nonprofit New Civil Liberties Alliance, which provides free representation to fight what it calls administrative overreach by federal and state agencies.
The trade groups say the system set up to assess the fees gives them no voice in how the money is used, and violates their First Amendment rights to show consumers the costs. The challengers critique the producer organizations for being dominated by the largest packaging companies, such as Coca-Cola or Amazon, while ignoring other interests.
Nevertheless, Circular Action Alliance is moving ahead to also sign agreements with waste and recycling handlers to be ready for local service expansions around the state. The Alliance says it has agreements with Apex Waste Solutions, Boulder County, Bruin Waste, Clean Valley Recycling and Ranch Creek Waste, with discussions underway with Republic Services, Waste Connections of Colorado and Waste Management.
The Alliance also said it is beginning to analyze the packaging returned in the expanded recycling efforts it funds, in order to keep improving packaging use and reuse.
Cortez officials said in an interview that about 2,000 people in the town are “active” recyclers, though not everyone needs a pickup every week. Recycling trucks make 250 to 300 stops a day, and the city runs two dropoff spots as well.
There are concrete benefits and savings from recycling expansion, even if it’s hard to see, Cortez officials said.
“When I first started talking to the county landfill in 2013, they expressed that there is limited space for growth,” Cortez public works director Casey Simpson said. “So I think even from an infrastructure standpoint, that may be less visible to a lot of refuse and recycling customers, the more that we can divert out of the landfill increases the lifespan of the landfill, which decreases the cost to county residents.”
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