Loveland Leads State in Residential Recycling for Fifth Straight Year

For the fifth consecutive year, the City of Loveland has once again been named the leader in residential recycling, achieving a 58% recycling and composting rate in 2020.

The honor puts Loveland ahead of second-place Boulder, with a 53% residential recycling rate. Longmont (41%), Telluride (36%), and Lafayette (34%) round out the top five.

“Loveland’s program has always focused on getting recyclable materials into the circular economy by making it easy for our residents to do so,” said Tyler Bandemer, City of Loveland solid waste manager. “Residents have eagerly adopted our recycling programs because of the accessibility, ease of use, and cost – from curbside recycling, Pay-as-You-Throw program, and volume-based pricing, to our Recycling Center that accepts over 25 items and sees more than 120,000 customers per year.”

The rankings are compiled annually by Boulder-based Eco-Cycle, a zero-waste advocacy group and one of the nation’s largest nonprofit recycling businesses, and the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG), a statewide nonprofit group that makes environmental policy recommendations. The two groups’ research results are contained in their annual publication, “State of Recycling and Composting in Colorado.”

In June 2021, the City added mattress recycling to its Recycling Center and continues to look for new materials to accept. The City also offers trash and recycling mobile app and webpage tools to discover recyclable items through the City or other ways to dispose of waste.

This year’s report again shows that Loveland provides a statewide model, even as Colorado’s recycling rates have slipped from 15.9% last year to 15.3% in the 2021 report. Loveland’s rate has been steady, varying between 58% up to 61% for each of the past five years.

This year’s results were released during a virtual event on America Recycles Day, Monday, November 15, attended by Mayor Pro Tem Don Overcash and Loveland Public Works staff members including Bandemer.