Colorado Packaging Producers Face Deadline to Register for New Recycling Program

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): In two weeks, any substantially sized company that produces packaging sold within Colorado — from plastic to glass to wood — must be registered with a new industry-led organization that will soon begin charging fees to fund a statewide recycling system. The deadline comes more than two years after the Legislature approved the first-of-its-kind makeup for the funding and administration of the programs, and the deadline has been moved up nine months from what that law originally anticipated. And while the Circular Action Alliance is still working to determine how many companies will be affected by the fee, the watchdog Colorado Consumer Coalition estimates the total could be about 1,500.

Because there is no existing list of producers of packaging materials that are sold in in the state, Alliance officials have been working numerous avenues to try to track down those companies, said Olivia Barker, statewide engagement and communications director. Those include working through trade associations and local chambers of commerce, collaborating with municipal organizations with tie-ins to the business community and buying ads in media.

While state law requires producers — those who create packaging bundling consumer goods, from six-pack holders to coffee bags — to register by Oct. 1, the ferocity of enforcement is up to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The fees, to be clear, will be assessed on both recyclable and non-recyclable packaging material.

 Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com