City Council members and a resident said Tuesday night they want a proposed zero waste resolution that sets the city’s future environmental goals to include tougher language and more incentives for people to recycle their household waste .
“I’m all for stronger language,” Councilor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring said.
“This resolution is not a binding ordinance so there is no need for wishy-washy language,” activist Naomi Curland told the council. “It includes loopholes so the city doesn't have to meet its goals.”
The proposed resolution sets out several steps for Longmont to become a zero waste community by limiting the amount of waste it burns and deposits in local landfills. To that end, the city of Longmont pledges to develop and implement policies and strategies to increase total waste diversion from landfills to 70% by 2030 and 85% by 2050, the draft resolution states.
Council members said the draft document is a good start. But said the city needs to do more to offer incentives to small businesses and marginalized groups to recycle more, Hidalgo-Fahring said. The resolution also needs to include tighter deadlines that must be met, Mayor Joan Peck said.
Bob Allen, the city’s public works and natural resources operations director, said the resolution is a guiding document and can be revised to meet the council’s expectations. “This resolution is more like guiding the boat,” Allen said.
The draft resolution is likely to return for a council review in a month or so. A zero waste ordinance may go to the city council by the end of the year, city officials said.
In 2008, the council adopted a resolution declaring Longmont a zero waste community and encouraging zero waste practices, according to a city staff report to the city council. The 2016 Sustainability Plan pieced together the targets and strategies in the waste section of the plan.
In February 2021, councilors directed staff to update the Zero Waste Resolution to reflect “modern diversion goals, techniques and related engagement with the Longmont community,” the report states.
