The City of Steamboat Springs municipal code governs mandatory recycling and requires that waste haulers provide single stream recycling to residential customers. Multi-family housing and commercial businesses are not addressed, contamination is high, and data reporting does not occur due to conflicts between required reporting and the information available to haulers. In addition, there is concern that items are being recycled, shipped to the Front Range, and then sent to the landfill due to contamination or lack of a market. The Steamboat Springs City Council has directed staff to review and update the City’s waste and recycling ordinance, which may include consideration of how or whether to move forward with single stream recycling, source separation, drop off sites, inclusion of commercial and multi-family residential, and other policy options. The first step in this process is to understand the current recycling environment and the various options and alternatives available in order to ensure a new or revised ordinance is informed by accurate and pertinent information. The ultimate goal is to increase waste diversion and recycling locally while minimizing environmental impact and cost.
