On a radiant Saturday morning, the National Western Center buzzes with energy as a summer street fair unfolds, but amid the festivities, Cory Jones is engaged in a rather unglamorous task: rummaging through a garbage can.
As the sustainability and safety manager for the sprawling campus, Jones’s responsibilities often lead him to the more tactile aspects of waste management, such as ensuring the proper functioning of the composting system—something not explicitly outlined in his job description.
Armed with rubber gloves, he sorts through discarded items, confronting one of the major hurdles within the city’s nascent composting efforts: keeping organic material out of the wrong disposal bins.
It’s a challenge complicated by the diverse array of waste people generate at public events. Some items are clearly labeled as compostable, while others are not. Certain “compostable” products don’t meet all composting criteria, and often cups and lids cannot be disposed of together.
“I love this part of my job. It does take time, but once you get it down, it’s almost second nature,” says Jones with a cheerful demeanor as he assists fair-goers in correctly sorting their waste.
This meticulous approach to waste disposal is likely to become a common scene across Denver due to an upcoming initiative poised to reshape the city’s composting landscape. The Denver City Council is gearing up to discuss the Waste No More proposal—a measure receiving overwhelming support from 70 percent of voters in 2022.
This initiative, which mandates composting services for multi-family residences, businesses, outdoor festivals, and construction sites, has been on hold, pending amendments to its initial framework.
Once activated, businesses will need to devise their own composting methodologies—a significant task some small enterprises fear may be unsustainable given the economic pressures they currently face in a costly city.
Local business leaders and environmental advocates have engaged in prolonged discussions with Mayor Mike Johnston’s office about necessary rules and potential exemptions surrounding the new program.
Among the proposed requirements for waste composting are:
– Mandating composting services for all multi-family buildings, which were recently required to offer recycling under a state law passed in 2022.
– Nonresidential buildings handling food, such as restaurants, with certain exemptions for those generating less than $2 million in annual revenue and employing fewer than 25 staff.
– Outdoor events serving food with expected daily attendees exceeding 1,000.
– Construction and demolition projects constructed over 500 square feet.
– Renovation projects over 2,500 square feet.
The revisions to the proposal include exemptions based on the size or operational capacity of various businesses, altering the previous zero-exemption policy that was in place.
Currently, approximately 70 percent of Denver’s solid waste is sent to landfills. Recognizing the detrimental methane emissions and limited landfill space, the city aspires to flip the waste disposal ratio, aiming to restrict landfill usage to only 30 percent of solid waste by 2032.
The implementation of composting mandates will undoubtedly require more dedicated individuals like Cory Jones.
In theory, composting appears straightforward: gather organic materials like food scraps and yard waste, place them into facilities where bacteria, fungi, and worms can effectively decompose them into fertilizer. However, it necessitates the removal of contaminants, including plastic and glass, from the composition, especially since the outcome is intended for lands in the community.
Nina Waysdorf, the waste diversion manager for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure in Denver, emphasizes the inherent challenges within this “sensitive waste stream.” Her department oversees the city’s residential composting program, offering green bins to homeowners—a service that has reached 70,000 residents since its inception in 2023.
Under her watch, materials from residential composting are routed to a city-owned facility in Arapahoe County. Here, Waste Management manages the site and possesses the authority to reject entire truckloads containing excessive non-organic waste—effectively sending trash back to the landfill.
However, as Dan Swingle from Waste Management points out, his company hasn’t had to turn away any loads since commencing the composting contract with Denver last year, attributing the program’s success to the voluntary participation of those involved.
As Denver’s new requirements surface prohibiting businesses from sidestepping compost programs, owners must establish systems to sort waste accurately, maintaining a high purity of their organic outputs.
The consequences for non-compliance could be severe, with city officials empowered to enforce the rules, potentially suspending operating licenses. Nonetheless, the city prefers to lean on education rather than immediate enforcement.
Jones has recognized the complexities involved with public-facing compost bins, especially during events bustling with attendees. Many people prefer the ease of disposing of waste without considering the segregation prompt.
City Council member Amanda Sandoval expressed skepticism regarding the feasibility of the proposed regulations. For decades, her family has operated La Casita on Denver’s Northside. She highlights the strife already faced by local business owners.
“With the escalating food costs, equipment expenses, and hauling fees, local business owners feel that these new proposals may overstrain their capacities, and many of them are already hanging by a thread,” she cautioned.
Similarly, the Colorado Restaurant Association has voiced concerns over the implications that the initiative could impose on small businesses already navigating an array of challenges.
Concerns regarding the availability of service providers and the administrative overhead associated with the new composting regulations have been underlined by spokesperson Denise Mickelsen.
“Even minor new requirements could precipitate a tipping point that jeopardizes the financial viability of many small businesses,” she remarked.
Eric Raya Steinbeiss, organizer of the Civic Center Eats food truck rally, shared his proactive approach by integrating compost bins during his events. To ease compliance, he allocates budgetary space to hire additional staff for waste sorting, a necessary measure to meet the expected compliance levels.
Yet, the financial burdens continue to pile up as such measures demand additional funding sources to remain feasible. While he appreciates the city’s push toward environmental sustainability, Raya Steinbeiss harbors concerns regarding the strain on small events.
Introducing additional operational requirements, such as heightened security and detailed parking plans, could very well threaten longstanding community gatherings, further diminishing Denver’s vibrant cultural fabric.
Acknowledging the business landscape, the mayor’s office is striving to find a balance within the rollout of this initiative.
The driving force behind the original Waste No More ballot measure was Ean Tafoya, an environmental advocate known for his involvement in a previous ‘green roof’ ordinance in 2017. This preceding initiative aimed to enforce sustainable practices on property owners but faced pushback from the former mayor, who deemed the legislation too extreme.
Now, Tafoya and his peers caution that Waste No More may face similar pressures as businesses lobby for exemptions from composting requirements.
“The dialogue often shifts to favor industry interests in ways that compromise the foundational goals of sustainability, such as environmental integrity,” Tafoya observed.
Despite Tafoya’s understanding of small businesses’ financial predicaments, he remains committed to upholding an ambitious vision for composting in the city.
“With the new version providing exemptions that cover 70 percent of events and 16 percent of restaurants, we feel we might be losing ground on our environmental commitments,” he stated.
Tim Hoffman, Mayor Johnston’s policy director, attempts to quell concerns by suggesting that the updated Waste No More measure still holds significant promise for transforming waste management in Denver.
“We see this as a transformative shift in our approach to composting and recycling within the city,” he noted.
Ultimately, the success of this initiative hinges not only on enacting regulations but also on ensuring sufficient infrastructure for composting.
The expansion of Denver’s composting capacities will require an influx of resources beyond personnel like Cory Jones; it will necessitate the establishment of reliable channels to process all collected organic materials.
Tom Dodd, operations director for the Arvada-based Scraps compost hauler, asserted confidence in the growing capacity of the state’s compost processing facilities.
Yet concerns remain. Vann Fussell, founder of Compost Colorado, emphasizes the pressing need for city support in cultivating a robust system for future compost haulers and processors.
“My advocacy pushes for a more distributed infrastructure model. Instead of relying on a few large processing facilities, we need a network of several smaller operations throughout the city,” Fussell stated.
At the National Western Center, Jones currently partners with Fussell’s Compost Colorado for his organic waste disposal but aspires to elevate the operational capacity of the center by seeking funding for a biodigester to manage organic waste independently.
In his vision, the NWC will evolve into a thriving hub for composting.
In the meantime, he continues to navigate the unique challenges of composting.
During an interaction with a woman who approached him during the fair, Jones carefully inspected her coffee cup, which had been branded as compostable. After thorough examination, they concluded its labeling was misleading, and it was destined for regular disposal.
Despite the occasional setbacks, Jones remains enthusiastic about tackling the challenges inherent in Denver’s expanding composting efforts, optimistic about the eventual widespread benefit this initiative could yield for the community.
image source from：denverite
