Waste No More will bring access to compost and recycling in Denver

re ll shops.

ankfully for Schmelzel, Ballot

BY ELICIA HESSELGRAVE SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Bex Schmelzel is looking forward to the day that Recycle Island will no longer take over the tiny kitchen in their Capitol Hill apartment.

Schmelzel’s apartment building does not provide recycling. Recycle Island is what Schmelzel and their partner call the pile of recyclables they store until a friend — who works at a recycling center in Boulder — can pick up the recyclables and drop them o .

“It’s such a relief when we can get rid of it,” Schmelzel said.

ey added that when there are months that go by before the friend is able to help with their recyclables, Recycle Island has, at times, reached about two-by-two feet or more.

“I don’t like the idea of being wasteful,” Schmelzel said. “I literally feel bad in my heart for being wasteful.”

But until Schmelzel’s apartment complex starts o ering recycling, there’s little that they can do except let Recycle Island pile up. Schmelzel works at a school and is attending graduate school at the University of Denver so they are not able to a ord other sustainable options such as

Measure 306, known as Waste No More, passed in November with nearly a 71% yes vote. is law requires all buildings in Denver, like Schmelzel’s apartment building, to provide access to recycling.

Schmelzel hopes the Waste No More initiative will reframe how people think about recycling.

“It’s a good measure,” they said. “We want to be able to recycle.”

Still, it could be a number of months before Denver residents see any changes.

Denver is on the path to `Waste No More’

Ean Tafoya, a candidate for mayor who served as co-director of the Waste No More campaign, and his colleagues worked on the measure for two years. In 2016, Tafoya was petitioning for the Denver Green Roof Initiative — which voters passed in 2017 and is now known as the Green Buildings Ordinance — when he discovered that Denver residents actually had a greater interest in access to recycling.

So, he and a team went to work to start writing the Waste No More initiative in 2020 and collected more than 11,000 signatures to get Waste No More on the ballot. ey missed the deadline for the 2021 election, but knowing Denver residents cared about access to recycling, Tafoya and

1-877-328-1512 his team continued their work to ensure it was on the November 2022 ballot.

“ ere has been a delay in (the) climate action that science is asking for, and my generation is crying for,” Tafoya said. “It is clear from the vote of the Denver public, this is what we want.” ese numbers, which are from 2021, demonstrate that Denver’s diversion rate — the amount of material that is not sent to landll — is at 25.7%. For comparison, the Boulder County Sustainability website reports its diversion rate is 35%, and the 2021 Fort Collins Waste Reduction & Recycling Report states its diversion rate was 55.5% for that year. e city of Denver is making strides to improve its diversion rate and Waste No More will play a big role.

He added that Waste No More has the potential to make a signi cant impact on the local environment.

According to the most recent numbers available, Denver is sending about 75% of its waste to land ll.

Once implemented, every building in Denver will be required to provide three waste bins: land ll, recycling and compost. is includes restaurants, businesses, o ces, stadiums and multi-family housing with more than four units. With greater access to recycling and composting, the people of Denver will have the opportunity to appropriately sort their trash.

Another important component of the policy requires construction and demolition sites to adopt more sustainable practices.

“Demolition waste accounts for half of our climate emissions and materials like metal, corrugate, glass, concrete and asphalt can be diverted from the land ll,” Tafoya said, adding that the Waste No More law will ensure these materials