City planners have begun a project to update the City’s recycling ordinance and want to collect community input at a series of meetings this summer.
Learn about the current recycling ordinance, provide project input and learn what other communities are doing:
June 30: 6:30-8:30 p.m., 215 N. Mason St., Community Room
July 1: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive, Foxtail 2
Provide input on draft recommendations:
August 11: 6:30-8:30 p.m., Council Tree Library, 2733 Council Tree Ave.
August 12: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, 225 S. Meldrum St.
Can’t make the meetings? Residents can sign up to receive email updates about the project, participate in a brief survey, and submit comments about the project at www.fcgov.com/recycling/update.php.
Topics under consideration include:
- Including multi-family customers in the ordinance for parity with single-family-residential customers.
- Including commercial customers in the ordinance to incentivize recycling.
- Considering curbside yard waste collection options for residents of single-family homes.
- Updating the ordinance for single-family homes to continue to incentivize waste diversion, but also to take into account recycling market volatility and stability of the program as more materials are recycled and composted
In Fort Collins, trash and recycling are collected by the private sector. The City creates ordinances that govern how the collection of trash and recycling take place. The primary recycling ordinance in Fort Collins, called the Pay-As-You-Throw ordinance, was passed in 1995. Through its 20-year history, this ordinance has resulted in a community where 95 percent of residents recycle and more than half of the community’s discards get recycled or composted.
The existing Pay-As-You-Throw ordinance applies only to single-family homes and includes the following requirements for trash haulers:
- Unlimited recycling is included with trash service for no additional charge.
- Trash bills are based on container size chosen by residents (32, 64 or 96 gallons).
- Residents are required to be offered a large wheeled plastic cart for their recycling if they prefer (rather than the 18-gallon open-top tubs).
A separate ordinance bans landfill disposal of electronics and of cardboard in Fort Collins. These apply to all members of the community – residents, businesses – anyone who generates cardboard or electronics.