Colorado program links plastic recyclers

The Circular Economy Development Center (CEDC), Colorado Springs, Colorado, is working to forge private sector connections in southern Colorado to help boost plastic recycling prospects in that region.

The CEDC says an early February stakeholder meeting it organized highlighted examples presented by companies that are engaged in private sector plastic recycling efforts.

Business owners, government representatives and elected officials who attended the meeting heard from Front Range Transload, a Pueblo, Colorado-based material handling company that aggregates less-than-truckload shipments of material until there is sufficient volume to ship a truckload or full railcar of material to take to market.

Among Front Range’s customers is Denver-based recycling services provider Direct Polymers, a company preparing to close the loop on plastics by launching a manufacturing business in Colorado, according to the CEDC.

The CEDC says it is playing a role by helping coordinate such companies and services “as part of circular economy development and showing other recyclers how materials could be stored for combined transport by rail or truck.”

The February meeting also included a presentation from Los Angeles-based ByFusion, which is considering expanding its operations to Colorado to serve as a regional end market for plastic films and flexible packaging.

Another California-based firm, Replenysh, shared its approach to capturing postconsumer plastics. The CEDC says that approach “confirms that bottle-to-bottle circularity can sustain a thriving business.” According to its website, Replenysh operates an online platform providing a “fully traceable network purpose-built for circularity.”

The CEDC says its February meeting demonstrated that a circular economy for plastic requires a systemic approach to economic development.

“How we transport materials in this system is key to improving how we reuse and recycle our [scrap] materials, but it also requires collaboration, robust data tracking and technical expertise," the organization adds.

“There is a need for better communication and connections between those who collect and process [scrap] and those who can use it to create products," CEDC Director Laurie Johnson says. "The CEDC is designed to be the portal where businesses receive guidance on logistics and compliance, and then are connected to local, regional or statewide networks.”

Citing a 2022 “State of Recycling & Composting in Colorado” report prepared by Boulder, Colorado-based EcoCycle, the CEDC says the value of recyclable materials headed to Colorado landfills every year likely is more than $100 million.

“There is a significant opportunity to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities through a focus on the circular economy,” the CEDC says.