HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-111-12/17/2013-ESTABLISHING A WASTE DIVERSION POLICY RESOLUTION 2013-111
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
ESTABLISHING A WASTE DIVERSION POLICY
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WHEREAS, in 1985, the City first began to investigate programs to educate the public
about recycling and solid waste reduction; and
WHEREAS, in November 1994, staff presented to the City Council an integrated,
comprehensive approach to solid waste management entitled the Integrated Municipal Solid
Waste Program, which included targets for waste reduction and recycling; and
WHEREAS, in May 1995, the Council adopted Resolution 1995-063, which identified
specific objectives to be accomplished in relation to waste stream reduction, including the goals
of reducing Fort Collins' total waste stream by 20% between 1993 and 2000, and reducing
landfilled waste by 20% to 30% during that period; and
WHEREAS, in June 1995, the Council enacted Ordinance No. 58, 1995, requiring
residential trash haulers in Fort Collins to apply variable rates ("pay-as-you-throw") and provide
curbside recycling services at no extra charge, in order to encourage the reduction and diversion
of solid waste in residential households; and
WHEREAS, in August 1999, staff presented to Council an Interim Solid Waste Plan, a.
copy of which is on file in the Office of the City Clerk and available for public inspection, which
Plan included an analysis of the overall waste diversion rate for the community's municipal solid
waste that was based on the Environmental Protection Agency's Characterization of Municipal
Solid Waste in the United States (1996). and used data submitted to the City by local trash
hauling companies pursuant to the requirements of their trash hauling licenses in calculating the
total volume of municipal solid waste generated in Fort Collins; and
WHEREAS, based on its analysis, staff concluded that 24% of solid waste in Fort Collins
was being diverted from landfill disposal, as of February, 1999; and
WHEREAS, on December 7, 1999, the Council adopted Resolution 1999-139,
establishing waste diversion goals of 35% by 2004, and 50% by 2010; and
WHEREAS, data from 2012 submitted to the City by local trash hauling companies and
other entities in Fort Collins have been analyzed and show that the community-wide waste
diversion rate for households, businesses and industry has now reached a level of 58%
(representing 5.12 pounds of material disposed of in landfills per capita per day); and
WHEREAS, 75-91% of respondents to the City's 2011 Air Quality and Recycling Survey
agreed that businesses, multi-family homes and single-family homes should be required to
recycle and that yard waste collection service should be offered to single-family homes; and
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WHEREAS, public involvement was conducted during 2013 at the request of the City
Council, to establish the new levels of waste reduction and recycling that should be sought in the
future; and
WHEREAS, comments from citizens and other stakeholders throughout 2013 were
received expressing support for adopting a goal of diversion of 100% of the community's waste
stream, referred to as "Zero Waste," and a per capita goal to reduce waste, setting a course for
Fort Collins to join the ranks of leading Zero Waste businesses and dozens of communities
around the world and America in striving for new ways of managing the discards that are
generated from households, businesses, and industry and diverting more material from landfill
disposal; and
WHEREAS, a plan referred to as "the Road to Zero Waste" has been written that outlines
principles and values for how the community will go about striving for new waste reduction
goals, and identifies which actions the City should take in the next ten to twenty years that will
most strategically deliver results; and
WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes the importance of prolonging the life span of
the Larimer County Landfill through waste diversion measures to further delay its closure; and
WHEREAS, the City Council further recognizes that increased and sustained waste
reduction and recycling have direct economic and environmental benefits to the local and global
community; and
WHEREAS, goals for achieving Zero Waste build on key principles for Environmental
Health adopted in the City's master plan ("City Plan") that call for sustainable waste resources
management; and
WHEREAS, goals for achieving Zero Waste support climate protection strategies
adopted in Fort Collins' Climate Action Plan that identify the need to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from landfills and from manufacturing activities that use virgin materials instead of
recycled commodities; and
WHEREAS, in light of the foregoing, it is the City Council's desire to adopt updated
waste diversion and reduction goals, with the goal of achieving "Zero Waste" by the year 2030,
as set forth below.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That it shall be the policy of the City to work toward the goal of diverting
100% of the Fort Collins community solid waste stream from disposal to reuse or recycling by
2030, with interim goals of 75% diversion by 2020 and 90% diversion by 2025.
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Section 2. That, in addition, it shall be the policy of the City to work toward the goal
of reducing per capita waste generation in Fort Collins to an average of 2.8 pounds per day by
2025.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this
17th day of December, A.D. 2013.
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