CIRCULAR COLORADO
Pioneering innovative solutions to turn waste into a resource and close the gap on a sustainable, circular economy.
Founding Supporter
What We Do
We provide operations-focused services for all elements of designing and implementing circular economy solutions. From collection system design to end market development, we help businesses, building owners, manufacturers, recyclers, and cities thrive.
Our Mission
To advance the collection of pre/post-consumer waste and C&D materials to expand and establish Colorado as a leader in sustainable economies.
Our Vision
To establish Colorado as a leader in developing circular economy solutions.
We’re dedicated to providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions for all stakeholders in a circular economy—from manufacturers and consumers to recyclers, waste haulers, and municipalities.
Circular Colorado represents a juncture between recycling, manufacturing, transportation, academia, technology, workforce development, and private and public sectors, all working together to innovate and create market solutions for recovered and recycled materials.
We focus on being the convener, facilitator, and project manager for the solutions that will afford Colorado’s economy sustainable, long-term growth.
Collection Project Case Study
Brooks Tower partnered with Circular Colorado to provide a recycling collection pilot program to its residents.
Current Circular Projects
Textiles
Shingles
Creating new, viable markets by capturing waste material through processing technology to meet the requirements for new shingles.
Plastics
Expanding markets by standing heavy manufacturing facility to create products
from the plastics being collected and processed in Colorado.
What is a Circular Economy?
An industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by design.
A circular business model uses resources efficiently and prioritizes renewable inputs. It maximizes a product’s usage and lifetime to achieve maximum value. At the end of the product’s life, the product and any by-products in its manufacturing are recovered and reused to make new materials or products.
As we look to create circular economies, it will be critical that the solutions employ one or more of the three basic strategies in creating a circular business model.
It will be crucial for end-market providers to employ at least one or more of the three primary circular business model strategies.
Our Approach
Work on the expansion and creation of end markets for recyclable materials through facilitation, project management, and consulting.
Work to help manufacturers utilize recyclable materials.
Work with the transportation industry to facilitate and support the supply chain.
Work on the expansion and creation of end markets for recyclable materials through facilitation, project management, and consulting.
Assist circular-solution companies in securing grant and investment funding.
Our Services
Providing solutions at every step of the circular business process takes the services to match—our team has the expertise to provide waste/recycling circular solutions across the board.
Circular Economy Development Center
- The center aims to empower and facilitate connections between Colorado businesses to create products using materials that Coloradans recycle.
Collection Program Design and Execution
- Multi-family housing
- Commercial and office buildings
- Manufacturing and industrial sites
Market Development Services and Consulting
- Meeting and project facilitation
- Go-to market strategy
- Stakeholder recruitment and engagement
- Research and reporting
- Brokering of materials
- Transportation and logistics
- Land use planning and permitting
- Processes, Governance, and KPIs
Project Management
- Material collection programs
- Project funding and grants
- End-market development solutions
Our Team
Board of Directors
Jenifer Freeman
Jenifer Freeman is the President and CEO at Constellation Strategies, an external affairs consulting practice focused on connecting the dots of community outreach, government engagement, policy formulation, stakeholder collaboration, and communications strategies for complete and impactful advocacy solutions at the local and state level in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West. Freeman holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies from the University of South Carolina and a Master’s Degree from the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies.
Michael Utz
Mike Utz was the founding and operating partner in the conception and development of the Kansas City area glass recycling company, Ripple Glass. He continues involvement in sustainability and recycling initiatives around his new home in the Denver metropolitan area. After several years of engineering work at Keebler Company’s Kansas City manufacturing operation, culminating in management of the engineering functions of the plant, he made the move to Boulevard Brewing Company. Mike was responsible for the technical direction of the company’s plant and facility, helping lead the company to a position of prominence within the brewing industry.
Alice Havill
Alice is a Business Fellow in the Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program, where she supports innovation teams that are working to develop and commercialize groundbreaking climate technologies needed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The Fellows program is part of the Breakthrough Energy network, founded by Bill Gates. Alice has a passion for developing teams, businesses, and technologies that transform emerging social and environmental needs into market-based opportunities. Companies she has worked with include LanzaTech Inc. and Vartega Inc. She also spent time in venture capital with the Colorado Impact Fund. Alice holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical and Materials from the University of Auckland and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Corporate Finance from the University of Denver.
Adam Hill
Adam is the founding partner and co-owner of Direct Polymers. Direct Polymers is a Denver-based plastics recycling facility specializing in post-industrial and post-consumer plastics processing and compounding. Adam has fourteen years of experience in operating plastics recycling facilities throughout the United States. He was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado and graduated from Smoky Hill High School in 2001, then went on to Duke University where he was a collegiate athlete and earned degrees in economics and political science.
Laurie Batchelder Adams
Laurie is the founder and president of LBA Associates, a woman-owned consultancy dedicated to assisting local governments optimize their waste diversion programs, policies, and partnerships. Her work for Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Grand Junction and numerous other Front Range and mountain communities has focused on effective strategies for collection and processing, public policy, and third-party procurement. She has been involved in the implementation of Colorado’s new EPR program and most recently worked with Circular Colorado on the early public process for the state’s new Circular Economic Development Center. Born and raised in New England, Laurie has been a Colorado resident for over 30 years. She holds master’s degrees in civil engineering and environmental policy from the University of Vermont and University of Denver, respectively. She is a past director of both Recycle Colorado and the Solid Waste Association of North America (international officer corps).
Staff
Laurie Johnson
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Laurie Johnson is the founder and CEO of Circular Colorado and the Director of Colorado’s new Circular Economy Development Center. Prior to this, Laurie was the Chief Operating Officer for a local Colorado roll-off hauling company and served as the Executive Director for Recycle Colorado for three years. Outside of Colorado, Laurie served as VP of Client Services for Recyclebank, and she owned a retail product distribution business in Phoenix for eight years. She has served on multiple boards in Colorado including as a founding member of the Front Range Waste Diversion Board, now Colorado Circular Communities. Laurie holds a B.A. in Urban Affairs and an MBA in Sustainable Business.
Margery Brown
Chief Operations Officer
Margery has over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, program development, financial planning, and operations management in various industries including federal and municipal government, economic development, real estate, and technology. Previously, she has served as the Chief Operating Officer at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the Executive Director of the Partnership for Economic Innovation, a senior advisor to the Commissioner for New York City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services, a Deputy Commissioner for the City of New York’s Technology Department, and the Chief Operating Officer for the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield. Margery holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Chicago and a masters in public policy from the Eagleton Institute of Public Policy at Rutgers University.
Amy Randell
Chief Business Officer
Amy has more than 18 years of experience working with the recycling industry. She worked for Recycle Colorado from 2005 to 2016, beginning as the membership coordinator and eventually serving as the interim executive director. Amy serves on the Assistance Committee to the Pollution Prevention Advisory Board and as the vce chair for the Northern Colorado Recycling Council. She has a bachelor’s degree in ecological restoration from CSU.
Environmental Social Governance (ESG)
The success of a more efficient, eco-friendly circular economy depends on all of us. But getting the critical mass of Colorado’s population on board can’t happen without a truly holistic approach…
And this is where environmental social governance (ESG) makes a world of difference.
We recognize that a zero-waste economy won’t happen overnight, and the transition won’t be easy. Still, the sustainability standards ESG provides are a win-win for businesses, consumers, and the planet alike.
As a business owner, mitigating climate change and operating with sustainability in mind makes your business more attractive to consumers, and a standout choice for potential investors. In fact, according to the Forbes article , 25% of investments are made in companies that utilize the ESG business framework.
The bottom line is, ESG is better for your business (and the environment)—and if you’re ready to incorporate environmental social governance into your operations, you’re in the right place.
Our team can help you understand ESG, what it means for your business, and how it can be used to continuously improve sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Colorado is one of a handful of states passing innovative new legislation regarding plastic products and waste. Essentially, extended producer responsibility (EPR) places responsibility for the end-of-life of a given product on the producer. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, this program is designed to:
- Provide funding mechanisms for recycling services and infrastructure across the state.
- Increase recycling access in Colorado, including apartments and rural areas.
- Save local governments money by reimbursing their costs to run their recycling programs.
- Support Colorado businesses by creating a more resilient domestic supply of raw materials to make new products.
- Encourage producers to design and manage covered materials to prevent/minimize their negative environmental, social, economic, and health impacts.
Note: This program only requires businesses with gross total revenues of $5 million or more to participate.
While navigating the logistics of extended producer responsibility might seem like a headache, we’re here to help.
We’re proud to be Colorado’s go-to resource for collection and end-market solutions, stakeholder facilitation and project management,—and we specialize in connecting businesses with the right service providers to make the transition to a circular economy easy and seamless.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Reports
We support policies that promote circular economy development.
Colorado:
Colorado Circular Communities
HOUSE BILL 24-1449
Circular Economy Development Center
HOUSE BILL 22-1159
Extended Producer Responsibility
HOUSE BILL 22-1355
Front Range Waste Diversion
HOUSE BILL 19-192
Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity Act
SENATE BILL 13-050
Electronic Recycling Jobs Act
SENATE BILL 12-133
Paint Collection Program
SENATE BILL 14-029
Let’s enact positive change for Colorado’s economy…
Contact Us Today for More Information!
We’re here to help business owners, municipalities, recyclers, waste haulers, and more make the most of circular business models.