2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 25 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT (§§ 25-1-101 — 25-59-106) › ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL (§§ 25-6.5-101 — 25-18.9-105) › Article 17 - WASTE DIVERSION AND RECYCLING (§§ 25-17-101 — 25-17-903) › Part 7 - PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAM FOR STATEWIDE RECYCLING (§§ 25-17-701 — 25-17-716) › Section 25-17-703 - Definitions

As used in this part 7, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Additional producer responsibility organization" means a nonprofit organization designated by the department as an additional producer responsibility organization pursuant to section
25-17-708 (2)(b)
.
(2)
"Advisory board" means the producer responsibility program for statewide recycling advisory board created in section
25-17-704 (1)
.
(3)
"Amended plan proposal" means an amended plan proposal for the implementation of the program submitted to the advisory board after the advisory board's initial review of the plan proposal in accordance with section
25-17-705 (5)
.
(4)
"Collection" means the gathering and transportation of covered materials from covered entities for the purpose of recycling.
(5)
"Collection rate" means the weight of covered materials that are collected under the program in a calendar year divided by the weight of covered materials used for products sold or distributed by producers within or into the state in the same calendar year, expressed as a percentage.
(6)
"Commission" means the solid and hazardous waste commission created under section
25-15-302 (1)(a)
.
(7)
"Compost" means the material or product that is developed under controlled conditions and that results from biological degradation processes by which organic wastes decompose.
(8)
(a)
"Compost facility" means a site where compost is produced.
(b)
"Compost facility" includes only those compost facilities that readily accept and process packaging material collected from consumers.
(9)
"Compostable" means a covered material associated with organic waste streams that is capable of undergoing aerobic biological decomposition in a controlled composting system as demonstrated by meeting ASTM D6400 or ASTM D6868, or any successor standards.
(10)
"Consumer" means any person who purchases or receives covered materials in the state and is located at a covered entity.
(11)
"Convenience standards" means the standards for the program as described in section
25-17-706 (3)
.
(12)
"Covered entity" means the following locations in the state from which covered materials are collected:
(a)
All single-family or multifamily residences in the state; and
(b)
Nonresidential locations identified in the final plan, including public places; small businesses; schools, as defined in section
22-1-132 (2)(c)
; hospitality locations; and state and local government buildings.
(13)
(a)
"Covered materials" includes:
(I)
Packaging material, except as specified in subsection (13)(b) of this section; and
(II)
Paper products, except as specified in subsection (13)(b) of this section.
(b)
"Covered materials" does not include:
(I)
Packaging materials intended to be used for the long-term storage or protection of a durable product and that are intended to transport, protect, or store the product for at least five years;
(II)
Paper products that, through their use, could become unsafe or unsanitary to handle;
(III)
Printed paper used to distribute financial statements, billing statements, medical documents, or other vital documents required to be provided in paper form by applicable consumer protections laws or other state or federal laws;
(IV)
Bound books;
(V)
Beverage containers subject to a returnable container deposit, if applicable;
(VI)
Packaging material used exclusively in industrial or manufacturing processes;
(VII)
Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated as a drug, medical device, or dietary supplement by the federal food and drug administration under the "Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act",
21 U.S.C. sec. 301
et seq., as amended, or any federal regulation promulgated under the act, or any equipment and materials used to manufacture such products;
(VIII)
Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated as animal biologics, including vaccines, bacterins, antisera, diagnostic kits, and other products of biological origin under the federal "Virus-Serum-Toxin Act",
21 U.S.C. sec. 151
et seq., as amended;
(IX)
Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated under the "Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act",
7 U.S.C. sec. 136
et seq., as amended;
(X)
Packaging material used to contain architectural paint covered under a paint stewardship program in accordance with part 4 of this article 17;
(XI)
Packaging material used to contain a product that is required under state law to be sold in packaging material that meets the standards set forth in the "Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970",
15 U.S.C. sec. 1471
et seq., as amended;
(XII)
Packaging material used to contain a portable electronic device, as defined in section
10-4-1501
, that has been repaired and reconditioned to be sold as a refurbished product;
(XIII)
Paper products used for a print publication that primarily includes content derived from primary sources related to news and current events;
(XIV)
Packaging material used to contain a product that is regulated as infant formula, as defined in
21 U.S.C. sec. 321 (z)
, as a medical food, as defined in
21 U.S.C. sec. 360ee (b)(3)
, or as fortified nutritional supplements used for individuals who require supplemental or sole source nutrition to meet nutritional needs due to special dietary needs directly related to cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, malnutrition, or failure to thrive, as those terms are defined by the World Health Organization's "International Classification of Diseases" (tenth revision), as amended or revised, or any other medical conditions as determined by the commission by rule; and
(XV)
Any other material that, based on an analysis by the organization of the operational and financial impacts of the proposed changes and after consultation with the advisory board, the commission determines by rule to not be a covered material.
(14)
"Department" means the department of public health and environment created in section
24-1-119
.
(15)
"Environmentally sound management practices" means policies that ensure compliance with all applicable environmental laws, including laws addressing:
(a)
Record keeping;
(b)
Tracking and documenting the disposition of covered materials collected from covered entities; and
(c)
Environmental liability coverage for professional services and contractor operations.
(16)
"Executive director" means the executive director of the department or the executive director's designee.
(17)
"Final plan" means the plan proposal or amended plan proposal that has been designated as the final plan by the executive director pursuant to section
25-17-705 (5)(c)(I)
.
(18)
"Front range" means the counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo, Teller, and Weld and the cities and counties of Broomfield and Denver.
(19)
"Local government" means a home rule or statutory county, municipality, or city and county.
(20)
"Materials recovery facility" means a facility for processing covered materials that are collected for recycling before they are conveyed to end-market businesses.
(21)
"Mechanical recycling" means a form of recycling that does not change the basic molecular structure of the material being recycled.
(22)
"Minimum recyclable list" means the list of covered materials developed under section
25-17-706 (1)(a)
.
(23)
"Needs assessment" means the assessment of the state's recycling needs conducted pursuant to section
25-17-705 (3)
.
(24)
"Nonprofit organization" means a tax-exempt charitable or social welfare organization operating under
26 U.S.C. sec. 501 (c)(3)
or
501 (c)(4)
of the federal "Internal Revenue Code of 1986", as amended.
(25)
(a)
(I)
"Packaging material" means any material, regardless of recyclability, that is intended for single or short-term use and is used for the containment, protection, handling, or delivery of products to the consumer at the point of sale, including through an internet transaction.
(II)
"Packaging material" includes products supplied to or purchased by consumers for the express purpose of facilitating food or beverage consumption and that are:
(A)
Ordinarily disposed of after a single or short-term use; and
(B)
Not designed for reuse or refill.
(III)
"Packaging material" includes paper, plastic, glass, metal, cartons, flexible foam, rigid packaging, or other materials or combination of these materials.
(b)
"Packaging material" does not include:
(I)
Packaging materials used solely in transportation or distribution to nonconsumers;
(II)
Packaging materials used solely in business-to-business transactions where a covered material is not intended to be distributed to the end consumer;
(III)
Packaging materials that are not sold or distributed to covered entities; or
(IV)
Packaging materials that are used for products sold or distributed outside the state.
(26)
"Paper products" means paper and other cellulosic fibers, whether or not they are used as a medium for text or images, including:
(a)
Flyers;
(b)
Brochures;
(c)
Booklets;
(d)
Catalogs;
(e)
Telephone directories;
(f)
Newspapers;
(g)
Magazines; and
(h)
Paper used for writing or any other purpose.
(27)
"Plan proposal" means the plan proposal for the implementation of the program submitted to the advisory board in accordance with section
25-17-705 (4)
.
(28)
"Postconsumer-recycled-content rate" means the amount of postconsumer recycled materials used in the production of covered materials in a calendar year divided by the amount of covered materials used for products sold or distributed by producers within or into their United States market territory in the same calendar year, expressed as a percentage.
(29)
(a)
"Postconsumer recycled material" means only those covered materials that have served their intended end use as consumer items and that have been separated or diverted from the waste stream for the purposes of collection and recycling as a secondary material feedstock.
(b)
"Postconsumer recycled material" includes returns of material from the distribution chain.
(c)
"Postconsumer recycled material" does not include waste material generated during or after the completion of a manufacturing process.
(30)
"Producer" means:
(a)
(I)
If the product is sold or distributed in the state using packaging materials under the manufacturer's own brand or is sold or distributed in the state using packaging materials that lack identification of a brand, the person that manufactures the product;
(II)
If the product is manufactured by a person other than the brand owner, the person that is the licensee of a brand or trademark under which a packaged item is sold or distributed in the state, whether or not the trademark is registered in the state; or
(III)
If there is no person described in subsection (30)(a)(I) or (30)(a)(II) of this section within the United States, the person that imports the product using covered materials into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that sells or distributes the item in the state;
(b)
For the purposes of products that are sold or distributed in the state through an internet transaction:
(I)
The producer of the packaging material used to directly protect or contain the product; and
(II)
For the purposes of packaging material used to ship a product to a consumer, the person that packages or ships the product to the consumer;
(c)
For the purposes of a paper product that is a magazine, newspaper, catalog, telephone directory, or similar publication, the publisher of the paper product;
(d)
For the purposes of paper products not described in subsection (30)(c) of this section:
(I)
The person that manufactures the paper product under the manufacturer's own brand; or
(II)
If the paper product is manufactured by a person other than the brand owner, the person that is the owner or licensee of the brand or trademark under which the paper product is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, or distributed in or into the state, whether or not the trademark is registered in the state; or
(e)
For any other covered material, the person that first distributes the covered material in or into the state.
(31)
"Producer responsibility dues" means the amounts established in section
25-17-705 (4)(i)(II)
that a producer participating in the program pays annually into the program pursuant to section
25-17-709 (1)
.
(32)
"Producer responsibility organization" or "organization" means the nonprofit organization designated to implement the program pursuant to section
25-17-705 (1)(b)(II)
.
(33)
"Producer responsibility program for statewide recycling" or "program" means the producer responsibility program for statewide recycling created in accordance with section
25-17-705
.
(34)
"Proprietary information" means information that, if made public:
(a)
Would divulge competitive business information or trade secrets of the entity that developed the information; or
(b)
Would reasonably hinder the entity's competitive advantage in the market.
(35)
(a)
"Public place" means an indoor or outdoor location in the state that is open to and generally used by the public.
(b)
"Public place" includes streets; sidewalks; plazas; town squares; state-owned or local-government-owned parks, beaches, and forests; other state-owned or local-government-owned land open for recreation or other public uses; and transportation facilities, including bus and train stations and airports.
(c)
"Public place" does not include industrial, commercial, or privately owned property.
(36)
"Readily recyclable material" means a covered material that is included on the minimum recyclable list.
(37)
(a)
"Recycling" means the reprocessing, by means of a manufacturing process, of a used material into a product or a secondary raw material.
(b)
"Recycling" does not include:
(I)
Energy recovery or energy generation by means of combustion;
(II)
Use as a fuel;
(III)
Use as alternative daily cover as defined in section
30-20-1402 (1)
; or
(IV)
Landfill disposal of discarded covered materials.
(38)
(a)
"Recycling rate" means the weight of covered materials that are recycled under the program in a calendar year divided by the weight of covered materials used for products sold or distributed by producers within or into the state in the same calendar year, expressed as a percentage.
(b)
The recycling rate is measured at the point where collected covered materials have been prepared for sale or delivery to material reclaimers or end markets after processing at a materials recovery facility or similar establishment that sells directly to reclaimers or end markets.
(39)
(a)
"Recycling services" means services provided for the recycling of covered materials, including the collection, transportation, and processing of covered materials from the consumer to the end market.
(b)
"Recycling services" includes curbside services and drop-off centers.
(40)
"Recycling services costs" means the costs of recycling programs to provide recycling services, including applicable costs related to:
(a)
The administration of recycling programs;
(b)
Capital improvements to recycling programs;
(c)
The collection, transportation, sorting, and processing of covered materials;
(d)
Public education about recycling programs; and
(e)
Disposal of nonrecyclable collected covered materials.
(41)
"Responsible end market" means a materials market in which the recycling of materials or the disposal of contaminants is conducted in a way that:
(a)
Benefits the environment; and
(b)
Minimizes risks to public health and worker health and safety.
(42)
"Retailer" means a person that sells to consumers within or into the state, including sales made through an internet transaction, products for which covered materials are used.
(43)
"Reuse" or "refill" means the return into the marketplace of a covered material that:
(a)
Has already been used in the same manner as originally intended without a change in the covered material's purpose; and
(b)
Was intended to be used for its original purpose at least five times.
(44)
"Service provider" means a public or private entity, other than the producer responsibility organization, that provides recycling services in the state.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 192,§ 7, eff. 7/1/2024.
Added by 2022 Ch. 337, § 1, eff. 8/10/2022.
2022 Ch. 337, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).