Residents last fall brought in 11 tons of discarded laptops, toasters, blenders, toilets and other items for recycling that cannot be picked up at curbside in an effort officials hope to repeat more than once a year.
Longmont’s “Hard To Recycle” Event, held Oct. 11-21 at Green Girl Recycling, 21 S. Sunset St., served 1,008 households and showed promise as a way to cut the amount of throw-aways headed for landfills, said Bob Allen, Longmont’s director of operations in public works and natural resources.
“The problem is that this program … is an interim program and we are limited to what we can do,” Allen told the city council this week. The October effort, he added, was done with the help of Green Girl Recycling and Eco-Cycle, Allen said.
The city could hold other recycling pushes if it had a permanent facility and more funding, he said. “The program could maybe go twice a year but we have to make sure we have partners on board with that.”
The city council learned about the results of the Hard to Recycle program during a work session Tuesday night. They also got updates on a proposed zero waste resolution and a universal recycling ordinance.
City staff members said an outreach effort to residents promoting a zero waste resolution will begin in March and a draft resolution should go before the council by April or May. The proposed resolution would call for the city to initiate action plans and measures to “significantly reduce waste and pollutants across all sectors of the community,” according to an earlier draft resolution.
A draft for a universal recycling ordinance should be ready by this fall, staff members told the council. The ordinance would make composting and recycling available to all residents and businesses in Longmont, Allen told the council.
The Hard to Recycle event was held by reservation and cost $41,000 to put on, Allen said.
The gathering attracted:
- 687 CRT and flat screen TVs
- 72 computer towers
- 123 laptops
- 16,345 pounds of electronics including toasters and blenders.
- 2,200 pounds of hardback books
- 10 cubic yards of Styrofoam block
- 55 bags of paper to shred
- 2 cubic yards of plastic bags
- 114 toner cartridges
- 38 ceramic toilets
- 242 bike tires and tubes
