Colorado Legislators Propose Two Bills to Boost Recycling

Colorado legislators have advanced two recycling bills to the state’s General Assembly this week in an attempt to help the state reach its goal to recycle 28 percent of its waste by 2021.

The state’s Zero Waste and Recycling Interim Study Committee advanced two of the five draft bills on October 22. The first would study how to use tax breaks to incentivize Colorado companies to help convert recycled items into new products. The second would require the state to create a proposal for a statewide composting management plan that would help improve soil quality and sequester more carbon, The Colorado Sun reports.

Colorado’s recycling rate was 17.2 percent in 2018, which was lower than the prior year and far below the national average of 35 percent.

The Colorado Sun has more:

Colorado lawmakers spent months deliberating ways to address Colorado’s abysmal recycling rate, but in the end, a special committee mostly agreed to keep studying the issue.

Two of five draft bills considered by the Zero Waste and Recycling Interim Study Committee advanced Tuesday. The first would study how to use tax breaks to incentivize Colorado companies to help convert recycled items into new products.

Read the full article here.

Colorado Politics has more information:

Legislators gave preliminary approval to two bills on Tuesday that would help make good on the state’s goal to recycle 28 percent of its waste by 2021.

The Zero Waste and Recycling Interim Study Committee advanced Bill 1, which would establish a center within the Colorado School of Mines to assist businesses that process recyclable materials and make them into new products. That assistance would include market analysis, identifying financial incentives, and advocating for pro-recycling policies at the state and local level.

Bill 1 would also require the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to study how to implement a program that would provide small refunds for glass bottles, and also to assess whether retailers and manufacturers should be required to accept their own products and packaging for recycling.

Read the full article here.