Joseph C. Prinster, PE (chair) Colorado Solid & Hazardous Waste Commission

Adopted August 15, 2017

WHEREAS, Colorado Revised Statutes 30-20-100.5 (II) declares that “State and local efforts must be focused toward the reduction of the volume and toxicity of the waste stream. Realistic waste reduction goals should be established and state and local solid waste management goals should strive to achieve such goals through source reduction, recycling, composting, and similar waste management strategies”; and

WHEREAS, the Colorado Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission (“commission”) is vested with the authority to regulate solid wastes within the State of Colorado, and has promulgated, and will continue to promulgate, regulations and policies pertaining to solid waste generation, handling, recycling, storage, treatment and disposal within the State of Colorado; and

WHEREAS, the 2016 Colorado Integrated Solid Waste & Materials Management Plan developed recommended waste diversion goals at the state and local levels for the next twenty years; and

WHEREAS, the commission recognizes the importance of adopting the waste diversion goals to establish realistic waste reduction goals and to encourage the development of additional recycling capacities as more particularly described in Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated herein; and

WHEREAS, after due consideration of the above, the commission wishes to adopt the following resolution:

In accordance with the above recitals, the commission adopts the waste diversion goals as recommended in the 2016 Colorado Integrated Solid Waste and Materials Management Plan.

Colorado Municipal Solid Waste Diversion Goals

Diversion Goals 2016 2021 2026 2036

Front Range NA 32% 39% 51%

Greater Colorado NA 10% 13% 15%

Statewide 19% 28% 35% 45%

“Front Range” shall include the counties of:

Adams Boulder Denver El Paso Larimer Weld

Arapahoe Broomfield Douglas Jefferson Pueblo

“Greater Colorado” shall include the counties of:

Alamosa Crowley Grand Las Animas Otero Saguache Archuleta Custer Gunnison Lincoln Ouray San Juan Baca Delta Hinsdale Logan Park San Miguel Bent Dolores Huerfano Mesa Phillips Sedgwick Chaffee Eagle Jackson Mineral Pitkin Summit Cheyenne Elbert Kiowa Moffat Prowers Teller Clear Creek Fremont Kit Carson Montezuma Rio Blanco Washington Conejos Garfield La Plata Montrose Rio Grande Yuma Costilla Gilpin Lake Morgan Routt

“Waste Diversion” shall include recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste based on the Municipal Solid Waste characterization methodology model developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Resolution

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission

Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division

Adopting Statewide and Regional Waste Diversion Goals for Colorado, Supporting Information.

Overview

The Colorado Integrated Solid Waste and Materials Management Plan released by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment in July 2016 recommends setting waste diversion goals at the state and regional levels covering the next twenty years. Colorado is one of only a few states without statewide waste diversion goals. Based on data collected by the department, Colorado appears to be below the national average for the percentage of municipal solid waste diverted from landfills to materials management operations such as recycling and composting.

CDPHE has been collecting data and calculating a statewide waste diversion rate since 2007. Based on the data received, Colorado has been stuck at a diversion rate percentage in the teens and low twenties from 2007 to 2016 for municipal solid waste. The proposed goals set a target for Colorado to meet the national average for waste diversion in ten years and then match the diversion rate of the states currently with the highest diversion rates in twenty years.

Proposed Waste Diversion Goals

Diversion Goals 2016 2021 2026 2036 Front Range NA 32% 39% 51% Greater Colorado NA 10% 13% 15%

Statewide 19% 28% 35% 45%

Purpose

The purposes of adopting waste diversion goals are to 1) address the declaration in state statute of “establishing realistic waste reduction goals at the state and local level through source reduction, recycling, composting and similar strategies” as directed in 30-20-100.5, C.R.S., and 2) to encourage the development of additional recycling capacity in Colorado. The waste diversion goals are proposed as a Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission Resolution. As a result, there are no mandates, regulatory changes or penalties associated with the

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diversion goals. Most states, with the exception of California, have adopted voluntary waste diversion goals meaning that penalties, mandates and regulations are not associated with attainment of the waste diversion goals. Adopting the proposed waste diversion goals resolution will set a collective standard by enacting measurable benchmarks for the department, local governments, businesses, nonprofits and all other stakeholders to strive for through improved recycling, composting and waste reduction. Comparing the waste diversion goals with the annual waste diversion rate data that is compiled by the Department will likely result in increased awareness of Colorado’s waste diversion rate and act as a mechanism to motivate and improve materials management services, and access to those services, statewide. Additionally, adopting regional waste diversion goals and calculating regional waste diversion rates will provide greater insight into recycling and composting rates at the local level. The Colorado Integrated Solid Waste and Materials Management Plan proposes waste diversion goals over five, ten and twenty year intervals. The Plan recommends adopting a statewide goal and regional goals for both the Front Range and Greater Colorado. Due to the economic and logistic challenges of residential and commercial recycling in areas of low population density, the Plan proposes conservative waste diversion goals for the areas outside of the Front Range metro area. Alternatively, the Plan proposes more aggressive waste diversion goals for the urban corridor counties due to the region’s access to established waste diversion collection service and infrastructure; and because over eighty percent of the state’s population resides within the Front Range region. Colorado is one of the few states without waste diversion goals. Within the Western US, over eighty percent of the states have adopted waste diversion goals. States with waste diversion goals generally have the highest waste diversion rates. California, Oregon, Washington, and Minnesota lead all states west of the Mississippi River with the highest waste diversion rates and these states, respectively, have the following waste diversion goals.

Minnesota’s diversion goal is 75% by 2030 and it currently has a diversion rate of 44%.

Washington’s diversion goal is 50% annually and it currently has diversion rate of 46%.

Oregon’s diversion goal is 52% by 2020 and it currently has a diversion rate of 47%.

California’s diversion goal is 75% by 2020 and it currently has a diversion rate of 47%.

Colorado’s municipal solid waste diversion rate as calculated for 2016 was 19% with scrap metal recycling included and 12% without scrap metal recycling, as generated by data reported from recycling facilities and landfills. For a diversion rate comparable with the EPA waste diversion methodology, scrap metal and industrial waste must be excluded. If scrap metal recycling is excluded and construction and demolition waste is excluded (generally estimated at 30% of waste composition) the revised 2016 MSW diversion rate for Colorado is estimated to be 18%. In order to meet the waste diversion goals, specific strategies should be emphasized and implemented. The Integrated Solid Waste and Materials Management Plan proposes various levels of strategies that can improve waste diversion including recommendations at the state, regional, and local levels. CDPHE has developed a timeline for implementing the Plan’s Level 1 recommendations. The Level 1 recommendations include state level topics such as providing

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training on waste diversion, assisting with regional planning, developing statewide access to recycling, and promoting zero waste / sustainable materials management. At the operational level, Colorado has lots of opportunities for increasing waste diversion by expanding and improving waste diversion services offered. Collection services and facilities that accept organics from both the residential and commercial sectors is limited statewide and remains an economic challenge. Recycling services for multifamily housing is almost non-existent, even in many of the larger cities within the Front Range. Collection services of common recyclable materials from the commercial sector also has room for growth. Additionally, most local governments in Colorado are not directly engaged in solid waste and materials management collection operations leaving a lot of room for improvement in residential collection services and educational opportunities. To improve the accuracy of the annual waste diversion data that is associated with evaluating the waste diversion goals, the department will need to revise and improve the waste division data collection methodology currently in practice. Material specific data from solid waste landfills is needed to generate municipal solid waste diversion rates to compare with the US EPA’s national average diversion rate and additionally the proposed waste diversion goals. The department will require data reported on both disposal of MSW and Non-MSW (industrial solid waste) to accurately calculate MSW diversion rates. Collecting MSW and Industrial solid waste disposal data requires a revision to the solid waste disposal data reported on the solid waste user fee quarterly reporting form. It is anticipated that this will be possible using the existing recycling facility annual reporting form with no revisions required. The department has authority to revise and improve data collection for calculating the statewide waste diversion rates as authorized in 30-20-122 (1) (a) C.R.S. Definitions The following definitions apply to the waste diversion goal. “Front Range” shall include the Counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo, Weld. “Greater Colorado” shall include the Counties of Alamosa, Archuleta, Baca, Bent, Chaffee, Cheyenne, Clear Creek, Conejos, Costilla, Crowley, Custer, Delta, Dolores, Eagle, Elbert, Fremont, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Huerfano, Jackson, Kiowa, Kit Carson, La Plata, Lake, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Mesa, Mineral, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Otero, Ouray, Park, Phillips, Pitkin, Prowers, Rio Blanco, Rio Grande, Routt, Saguache, San Juan, San Miguel, Sedgwick, Summit, Teller, Washington, Yuma. “Municipal Solid Waste” includes materials generated by residential commercial, and institutional sources including containers and packaging such as soft drink bottles and corrugated boxes, durable goods such as furniture and appliances, nondurable goods such as newspapers and clothing, other wastes such as food scraps and yard trimmings but does not

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include municipal sludges, agricultural wastes, industrial nonhazardous wastes, oil and gas wastes, construction and demolition debris and mining wastes. “Waste Diversion” shall include recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste based on the MSW characterization methodology model developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Stakeholder Involvement in the Process The waste diversion goals were discussed in depth at each of the ten Integrated Solid Waste & Materials Management Plan stakeholder meetings in 2016. Over 190 participants attended the stakeholder meetings. Each participant completed a survey that provided action items for the Plan. Of the ten major recommendations in the Plan, adopting waste diversion goals with a two tier regional goals was the top ranking recommendation at eight of the ten stakeholder meetings. The Division received a many stakeholder comments following the release of the Integrated Plan. The top comment received on the plan, with 68% of the comments received, was to set stronger/increase the waste recovery/diversion goals.

Prior to the August 15, 2017 Commission hearing, the department conducted public outreach on the waste diversion goal resolution by distributing notification to waste and recycling associations and members including the Colorado Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and the Colorado Association for Recycling (CAFR). Additionally, information on the waste diversion goal resolution was posted on the notification on the departments. The Division believes that all stakeholder issues and questions with the Resolution have been resolved. Cost Benefit Analysis A cost benefit analysis was not directly conducted with the development of the waste diversion goals resolution. However, the Integrated Solid Waste and Materials Management Plan estimated the value of the unrecovered recyclables being landfilled annual in Colorado using five year average market prices. The Plan determined that the value of recyclable material being landfilled annually in Colorado is near $267 million with $218 million of that generated in the Front Range.

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