Denver residents in Park Hill, Central Park, and parts of East Colfax should keep an eye on their mailboxes for a letter from the city's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), indicating the imminent arrival of their compost collection service. The notice will include instructions for residents to choose the size of their compost cart as part of the city's ongoing efforts to expand composting services, as detailed by DOTI. The residents of this Solid Waste Collection (SWC) District 3 will join the approximately 5,300 households that already participate in the program. They will have until October 27 to make their cart size selection.
The district-wide rollout includes the distribution of not just the compost carts but also kitchen pails and instructional guides on how to compost effectively, starting in November. The collection will commence the following week after the carts are delivered. After the initial delivery, residents can request service at any time, as per DOTI. Previous compost service expansions in other SWC Districts, like 4, 5, 8, and 2, have included follow-up measures such as audits and education initiatives aimed at reducing contamination in the compost loads, which, if not addressed, can lead to disposal issues.
DOTI's strategy has been methodical, focusing on one district at a time and providing comprehensive guidelines to residents about proper composting techniques. Areas with lower diversion rates were given priority for initial service as a tactical push to encourage composting which was yet to be embraced fully. Denver's overarching plan is to weave composting into the fabric of daily urban life, inching toward environmental sustainability one green cart at a time, with further expansions targeted for 2025.
In a shift towards sustainability, Denver introduced a volume-based pricing model in January 2023. Under this system, residents are charged for trash collection based on the size of their trash cart, with recycling, and composting services included at no extra cost. The addition of the new neighborhoods to the compost program will mean that approximately 62% of Denver's households will now have access to the compost service, helping to reduce the overall waste footprint of the city.
