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Lafayette sustainability department reports recycling, e-bike rebates, HEPA pilot and EV charging grants
Summary
City staff summarized implementation of the 2024 Climate Action Plan and year-to-date 2025 accomplishments including universal recycling roll-out for businesses, an e-bike rebate program, a HEPA air purifier pilot, fleet electrification plans and public EV-charging grant awards.
The City of Lafayette’s sustainability staff on July 1 updated the City Council on progress implementing the 2024 Climate Action Plan and on programs launched so far in 2025, including a universal recycling ordinance for businesses, an e-bike rebate, a HEPA air-purifier pilot and grant-funded public charging sites.
“My name is Elizabeth; I’m the sustainability director,” Elizabeth told the council as she and sustainability specialist Lisa reviewed highlights. The city adopted its Climate Action Plan in August 2024; staff said more than 60 goals span energy, water, circular economy, transportation, community resilience, natural environment and air quality.
Staff described recent accomplishments and programs: the Universal Recycling Ordinance for businesses took effect Jan. 1 with financial support to help businesses convert to recycling service; the Charge Ahead Colorado grant funding was secured to add public EV chargers at the library, Fire Station No. 1 and the golf clubhouse; and a municipal EV fleet plan has produced 15 electric vehicles to date with staff pursuing level-2 and DC fast-charging infrastructure at the service center.
Staff said Earth Month outreach engaged about 3,000 residents and a hard-to-recycle event diverted about 28,000 pounds in 2025, up from roughly 25,000 pounds last year. The city launched an e-bike rebate program that drew 91 applications and a HEPA air-purifier pilot that received 240 applications and distributed 50 units; staff said they hope to continue the purifier program.
Elizabeth said the city will conduct a greenhouse-gas inventory for municipal buildings and community-wide emissions using 2024 data, and staff plan to launch a climate-action awareness campaign in late summer or early fall. She also cited new water-efficiency messaging and a mascot for outreach and said police have received four new e-bikes for patrol and access.
Councilors asked about outreach and program details: Councilor Barnes asked whether HEPA applicants cited high-ozone days or other health concerns; Elizabeth said the application asked about indoor smoking, children, older adults and other risk factors and that outreach tied the giveaway to ozone and wildfire- smoke education. Councilor Friedland asked about extended-producer-responsibility work and the city’s coordination with Republic Services and Boulder County for a waste-characterization study; staff said the state-level rulemaking is preliminary and that Boulder County is conducting the study with an opportunity for Lafayette-specific funding.
No formal action was required; staff will continue implementation and return with program updates and the greenhouse-gas inventory.
