In another step toward implementation of extended producer responsibility for packaging, Colorado regulators published a report laying out which materials would be covered and exploring different options for how the program could operate.
Carried out by producer responsibility organization (PRO) Circular Action Alliance (CAA), HDR Engineering and Eunomia Research and Consulting, the needs assessment creates accepted recyclable material lists, models the effects of several improvement scenarios and evaluates access to services and costs. It was published by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE).
The assessment looked at Colorado as four regions, based on socioeconomic and geographic factors: the Western Slope, the Mountains, the Front Range and the Eastern Plains. It used 75 tours and interviews with service providers, end markets and other stakeholders, 130 municipal surveys and many comments, meetings and discussions to generate more than 100,000 data points.
