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Fort Collins advances toward zero-waste goals; compost and C&D infrastructure identified as near-term priorities
Summary
City staff told council the community diversion rate was 61% in 2023 and recommended feasibility work on a local compost facility and further focus on construction-and-demolition recycling, while contracted hauling expanded curbside yard-trimmings service to many households.
Chief Sustainability Officer Jacob Castillo and lead waste specialist Caroline Mitchell briefed the council on progress and next steps for the city’s zero-waste-related priorities, including composting, construction-and-demolition (C&D) recycling and commercial yard-trimmings policy.
Mitchell said the city measures diversion by sector and reported a community diversion rate of 61% in 2023; she highlighted that industrial diversion skews high because a large share of industrial materials is processed at a local crushing facility. As staff work toward increased diversion, they recommended feasibility analysis for a local compost facility and continued partnership with Larimer County on mixed C&D recycling.
Mitchell told council that Fort Collins measures diversion by sector (residential, commercial and industrial) and that the most recent completed year, 2023, showed residential diversion at about 25%, commercial at about 40% and industrial at about 82%. She noted Hofmann Mill’s aggregate recycling drives much of the industrial total and said removing that facility from the calculation would drop the industrial rate considerably. Mitchell told council the community diversion-rate time series shows Fort Collins is not on track to reach its long-term zero-waste objective without additional measures; staff described the city’s zero-waste goal as a north star and said the highest-performing jurisdictions tend to top out at about 85% diversion.
On specific infrastructure needs, staff said the nearest permitted facility that accepts food scraps is more than 60 miles away, making hauling and processing costs high and limiting adoption. Mitchell said two local private companies offer optional food-scraps collection but that haul distance raises price points. For that reason the city secured grant-funded consulting to assess options; staff said the consulting work will deliver a feasibility-level analysis for a compost facility by July. The analysis will examine scale options from a Fort Collins-only facility to larger regional facilities and will support a later decision about pursuing either a transfer station or a compost facility.
On construction and demolition recycling, staff said Fort Collins already requires separation of cardboard, metal, wood and aggregates at C&D sites but that markets reject bins with contamination; a mixed C&D recycling facility that mechanically sorts mixed loads would increase participation and reduce rejections. Larimer County is pursuing a mixed C&D facility, staff said, and Fort Collins previously adopted flow control to direct mixed-material loads to a county facility if one is constructed. Staff reported they will continue coordination with Larimer County as county planning and state grant opportunities proceed.
Mitchell also highlighted completed and underway policy actions. The contracted-hauling program (city-managed hauling for curbside collection) rolled out last fall and expanded curbside yard-trimmings collection; staff said 46% more households now have curbside yard-trimmings service than before. Mitchell said staff are too early in the year to report tons diverted from that change but will provide tonnage data when available. She recommended staff pursue a commercial yard-trimmings policy as the next high-diversion, near-term policy lever while infrastructure analyses proceed.
Council members asked for more details on grocer composting compliance, construction-site inspection results and implementation timelines; staff said grocers are required to compost under the community recycling ordinance implemented in 2021 and that the city performs compliance checks. Staff also acknowledged council frustration about the speed of implementation on some long-running items and said major infrastructure efforts are complex, multi-jurisdictional and capital-intensive; they told council that taking a more lead role and providing city funding could accelerate timelines but would require tradeoffs.
Ending: Staff will receive the feasibility-level compost analysis in July, continue coordination with Larimer County on C&D recycling, and return to council for a fall check-in to prioritize next steps and proposed resource levels.
