Durango, Colorado – Compost and Collection Capacity Building

In 2025, the City of Durango adopted Resolution R-2025-0004, which directed the city manager to execute pilot organic waste management programs, conduct research on ordinances in other communities, and form a citizen focus group on local organic waste management. The ordinance builds on the findings of a 2022-2023 market study and on the success of a public-private partnership between the City of Durango and Table to Farm Compost, which began in 2021. The City aims to research relevant ordinances in other municipalities and identify the best fit for Durango to enhance organics management. As part of a request for proposal, the City indicated its plans to explore expanding to a community-wide mandatory composting system within three years.

Background

In 2021, Table to Farm Compost secured a public-private partnership contract with Durango. As a result, the composter expanded curbside food waste and leaf collection services, providing an opt-in subscription service to residents. To increase participation and expand access, Table to Farm Compost began offering semimonthly service at a reduced rate. Additionally, in the winter of 2022-2023, Table to Farm Compost was awarded a $119,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to conduct a market study on the effects improved organic waste management solutions have on the City’s residents and businesses. The study incentivized customers with free collection service for three months in exchange for completing two surveys. Within just one year of implementing both strategies, they experienced a 25% increase in new customers.¹  

“The public-private partnership and associated market study have provided insights into existing trends, preferences, perceptions, and behaviors related to organic waste management and composting from Durango’s residents and businesses, but additional opportunities for pilot program case studies remain to be explored.”

– Resolution R-2025-0004

Pilot Program Funding

Funding for the project may come from multiple sources, including bag fee revenue and a grant from the CDPHE. 

“Fiscal impact will vary depending on the scope and nature of pilot programs. Pilot programs are estimated to cost in the range of $25,000 to $75,000 collectively. Funding for the programs can be provided by bag fee revenues, which by state law must be utilized on recycling or composting efforts.”

– Agenda Documentation Item 11.4

 

Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights sets strict rules on tax increases, requiring any tax increase or modification to be approved by a ballot measure voted on by Coloradans. As a result, state and local governments often rely on enterprise service funds with dedicated fee funding, as Colorado courts have deemed these to be allowable.² Fee-based funding for composting enterprise services would need to clearly specify what the program entails and be passed by a vote before the city council. In the next iteration of the policy, Durango is exploring several options for ordinance programs, including a potential fee towards the composting program.

Legislation such as Colorado’s 2022 Producer Responsibility (EPR) Program under the Statewide Recycling Act, HB22-1355, may be another funding option. This legislation requires businesses that sell packaging and paper products to fund a statewide recycling program managed by the Circular Action Alliance (CAA). The fund establishes a centralized system and infrastructure for managing recycling, minimizing waste, composting systems, and increasing the recycling and reuse of recyclable materials.³ Once Durango implements the EPR program, the recycling service fee will be eliminated for residents. This opens the door to imposing a new fee to fund a composting program, with a cost-neutral impact on utility bills. Additionally, while the EPR legislation is not directly associated with composting, it establishes the groundwork for the state to consider composting and, if successful, will look towards a composting extended producer responsibility program.⁴ The act serves as a roadmap to the structure and funding of statewide recycling and composting services, with the CAA beginning to pay administrative dues to the CDPHE starting June 30, 2026. The producer responsibility organization will work with compost service providers to reduce contamination by:

“(B) Providing funding or other assistance to compost facilities to reduce the costs of managing or increase the effectiveness of efforts to manage contamination and to process and recover compostable packaging materials.”

– House Bill 22-1355

Impact & Complementary Programs 

In 2025, the City proposed testing additional composting initiatives, including compost drop-off sites, low-income rebates for compost services (using the existing utility bill rebate programs), a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program, and efforts to encourage composting in commercial food service businesses. The Discounted Compost Service Program helps income-qualified residents cover 90% of the cost of curbside compost collection. Funding for the program is available through the Utility Refund and/or Food Tax Rebate program and is open for applications from February to June each year. Currently, there are no city-owned or operated drop-off sites. Sites are privately managed through Table to Farm Compost, priced for customers at $22/month in West of Durango, Florida Rd., and their newest location in Pagosa Springs. While the remaining PAYT initiatives, engagement with commercial food service businesses, and infrastructure for drop-off sites have yet to be implemented, the City will host community focus groups to ensure community input on incentives and/or mandates, such as a city-wide organics ban. 

Durango also received the Strategic Technical Expertise for the Public Sector (STEPS) grant from CDPHE for their Colorado Circular Communities program, which created a statewide circularity framework to reduce and prevent waste. Through this grant, the City was able to hire two consultants from Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) and Eco-Cycle. These consultants will conduct both internal and external research with communities that have ordinances to evaluate the benefits and costs of those ordinances and to facilitate focus groups of 12 participants each, meeting once a month to gather feedback on the Resolution.⁵ The aim is to provide an interim update to the city council around June 2026 and a final report on the most suitable composting ordinances by late summer 2026.

In order to continue growing participation in the program, Table to Farm Compost and the City are looking to close the 2025 resolution’s initial gaps through a 2026 policy. Program ideas include: language to prevent organics from being disposed of in the trash, requiring mandatory service for some customer types, and an incentive or subsidy model.⁶ 

More Information

• “Durango, Colorado No-Cost Contract Enables Partnership”, Case Studies for Keep Compost Local Report (p. 20-23) – ILSR
• Model Municipal Ordinance on Advancing Community Composting – Natural Resources Defense Council
• Producer Responsibility Program – Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
• What Producers Need to Know About Colorado’s Producer Responsibility Act – Circular Action Alliance