The estimated amount and percent of municipal solid waste being recycled in Boulder County, Broomfield, and Erie. Municipal solid waste consists of waste from households, offices and stores. It does not include industrial or agricultural waste or municipal wastewater treatment sludge. The more we are able to recycle or reuse materials, or reduce resource consumption at the source, the less we are forced to consume diminishing raw or virgin materials.
Recycling also diverts waste from landfills.
Because Boulder County does not have its own landfill, whatever waste we generate must be exported to landfills outside of the County, a practice that contradicts basic principles of sustainability. The Boulder County Recycling and Composting Authority was formed to oversee a new solid waste recycling facility to partially address this problem. The Recyclables Processing Center is now under construction and is due to be completed in July 2001. The residential sector accounted for approximately three-fourths of total recycling recorded in both years, with the commercial sector accounting for the balance. Look for jumbo-sized packages, bulk items and concentrates.