From Resource Recycling – January 14, 2025
A project to give rural Colorado communities access to recycling is ready to begin running truck routes later this month.
The Circular Economy Development Center’s Circular Transportation Network brings together rail company BNSF, trucking company Front Range Transload, brokers and the City of Pueblo to aggregate recyclable materials, making it possible for small communities to access recycling end markets. Colorado has a low reported recycling access rate compared to the U.S. average.
The project operates on the “milk run” model, meaning a truck goes out full of products to its destination, then on the way back makes stops along a predetermined route to collect recyclables. It brings those materials back to Pueblo to be held until there’s a full load ready for market.
The towns don’t get paid for the commodities, but they also don’t have to pay to landfill them. The overall goal is for the commodity revenue to even out the cost of the transportation.
Susan Renaud, director of special projects, said in an interview that the team has been “plugging away on getting all of the pieces set up,” with a focus on two major areas: getting the aggregation site in Pueblo set up and putting together the back-end infrastructure to allow cities to sign up and submit pickup requests.