Eco-Cycle Could Teach Zero Waste Policy 101 in Your Workplace
Discover how Eco-Cycle is shaping Colorado’s future with groundbreaking Zero Waste policies—from banning polystyrene to making recycling free and accessible statewide. Learn how your workplace can be a part of lasting environmental change with our expert-led Policy 101 trainings!
Did you know that for almost a decade, Eco-Cycle has been involved in advocating for statewide legislation to support Zero Waste initiatives in Colorado? Many of these Zero Waste policies are already making a huge impact.
We want to engage more Coloradans in advocating for change. We’re now offering Policy 101 trainings at your place of work, led by Eco-Cycle’s Director of Policy and Community Campaigns, Randy Moorman, and Senior Policy Advisor Rachel Setzke. These trainings will help staff understand the policy process in Colorado, as well as introduce the Zero Waste bills that are making a difference statewide.
Eco-Cycle recently led a Policy 101 training for interns at Walking Mountains Science Center, helping future environmental leaders understand the process through which a bill becomes law, and the role we all have to play in advancing Zero Waste legislation NOW that will protect our planet for generations to come.
Catch the Replay
Read on for some examples of successful Zero Waste policy action that are now law in Colorado.
What You’ll Learn
Thanks to persistent advocacy by organizations like Eco-Cycle and our partners, including Recycle Colorado, CoPIRG, Green Latinos, and others, several landmark Zero Waste bills have become law.
Plastic Pollution Reduction Act (PPRA), 2021
The Plastic Pollution Reduction Act (HB21-1163) made Colorado the first non-coastal state to ban polystyrene takeout containers and implement a statewide ban on plastic checkout bags distributed by large retailers, with a fee on single-use paper bags.
With the passage of this bill, Colorado also became the first state to repeal a law championed by the plastics industry that prohibited local jurisdictions from adopting ordinances that ban plastic items.
Key Impacts:
- Banned polystyrene (Styrofoam) takeout containers statewide.
- Banned large retailers in Colorado from distributing plastic checkout bags, and added a mandatory fee on single-use bags to encourage reusable options.
- Repealed the prohibition on local plastic bans, allowing cities to lead on plastic waste reduction.
Right to Repair
Colorado made national news by passing three Right to Repair laws, giving consumers the tools to fix their products instead of throwing them away.
These laws cover:
- Powered wheelchairs
- Agricultural equipment (like tractors)
- Consumer electronics (appliances, phones, computers, HVAC units)
Producer Responsibility for Packaging, 2022
Under our current waste and recycling system, recycling costs fall on residents, businesses, and local governments—communities that have no say in how products are made or how recyclable they are. Producer Responsibility laws shift those costs to manufacturers, incentivizing better, more sustainable product design.
Colorado’s Producer Responsibility Program for Recycling (HB22-1355) was written and championed by Eco-Cycle and passed in 2022. It makes Colorado the first state with a fully producer-funded, statewide recycling system for consumer packaging and paper.
When implemented in 2026, the law will:
- Provide free curbside recycling for all Coloradans
- Ensure producers fund recycling education and infrastructure
- Charge producers using less packaging, or more recyclable packaging, a smaller fee, incentivizing more sustainable packaging design.
By 2035, this law is expected to:
- Expand recycling to 700,000 more households in Colorado
- Divert 720,000 tons of packaging from landfills annually
- Reduce emissions equivalent to removing 278,000 cars from the road
Who Should Request a Policy 101 Training?
- People who want to effect change
- Organizations that want to learn more about Zero Waste policy in Colorado
Let’s talk! We may be able to provide Zero Waste resources and education in your community or workplace. Contact [email protected] to learn more.
