Denver, CO Moves Recycling Pickup to Accelerate Compost Rollout

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) is accelerating its rollout of the citywide compost collection program. All Denver neighborhoods will start getting compost pickup by March. To accelerate the rollout, DOTI is making a trade off, eliminating the weekly pickup of recycling. Denver residents will instead get recycling pickup every other week. Compost pickup will be weekly as will trash pickup.

Another change to make the accelerated compost rollout possible is large-item pickup will only come once every nine weeks. DOTI’s goal is to divert 50% of all waste from the landfill by 2027. By the end of this process the department projects to have around 115,000 compost customers and 180,000 recycling and trash customers.

Compost carts can handle any kind of food waste including food scraps, egg shells and even bones. They can also handle yard debris like weeds, grass clippings, leaves, and small tree branches. Denver no longer accepts paper products or products labeled as compostable such as cups or plates in compost bins as of April 2023, since the state’s largest compost processor stopped taking those items.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com