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Boulder staff outline push for reuse, plastics reduction as Colorado EPR approaches
Summary
City staff told the Environmental Advisory Board they will pair state extended-producer-responsibility rules with local incentives and reuse pilots, while pressing for reuse infrastructure and data collection to guide policy.
At a meeting of the City of Boulder’s Environmental Advisory Board, Jamie Hargans, manager of the city’s Circular Economy team, outlined planned city work on reuse systems, plastics reduction and related incentives as Colorado’s new extended-producer-responsibility law approaches implementation.
The presentation explained why the city is prioritizing reuse alongside recycling: the state’s producer-responsibility law will place fees on product packaging and route funds through a producer responsibility organization (PRO) that begins operating in 2026, and Boulder staff want some of that money to support local reuse infrastructure and universal recycling. Hargans said the city will bring policy options to City Council later this year.
Hargans framed the city’s work inside a broader “circular economy” approach. “We have been working on 0 waste since 1994 here in Boulder,” she said, and staff have moved from diversion and recycling toward strategies that “keep products and materials in use” and treat “waste as a design flaw,” language drawn from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s principles.
City programs and incentives…
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