Council directs staff to follow data-driven path on waste diversion study

Public Works staff presented findings and next-step options on waste diversion to the Greeley City Council, summarizing a grant-funded waste-characterization study and five policy options for recycling and trash service.

Staff said the study showed low resident satisfaction with current trash management — “about 4% of our residents are currently happy with how we manage trash” — and noted gaps in service: roughly 15 percent of households (about 4,500 homes by staff’s assessment) lacked any trash service and only about 25 percent of residents paying for curbside service purchased recycling.

The presentation reviewed five options developed from industry best practices and the study: (1) a consolidated recycling center, (2) pay-as-you-throw pricing, (3) a contract hauler model with optional city-managed service, (4) a phased reporting requirement for haulers to supply address-level service data, and (5) city-contracted trash and recycling service. Staff recommended the reporting option as the next step to gather the address-level data needed to design equitable service models and to qualify for grants.

Why it matters: staff said accurate address-level hauler data and billing/utility information are prerequisites to modeling costs and eligibility for future curbside recycling or other service changes. The reporting approach is intended to create a robust evidence base before staff returns with code-change recommendations.

Council response and direction

Council members asked whether the city had asked new or existing haulers about partnering on a public-private recycling center; staff said outreach had been limited and that the city had not yet obtained complete address inventories from most haulers. Councilors also raised enforcement and equity concerns, noting higher complaint concentrations east of 30th and Seventeenth avenues.

During the discussion, a councilor called for a vote on the staff recommendation; the mayor recorded general agreement. A council member later said, "I see consensus," and staff said they would proceed with the recommended, data-driven path.

Implementation notes and next steps

- Staff will refine code language before returning to council to clarify address requirements and to respond to hauling companies’ proprietary-data concerns.

- Public Works will implement a downtown consolidated trash-and-recycling pilot for alleys this summer and continue outreach with businesses.

- The recommended reporting step is intended to support grant applications, determine eligibility for producer-responsibility funding under state implementation, and to allow council to evaluate targeted code changes (for example, a requirement that properties maintain trash service).

Ending: Council accepted staff’s recommended path forward and asked staff to return with revised code language and the address-level data needed to model costs and program designs for future council decisions.