Circular Transportation Network
The Circular Transportation Network (CTN) is a project led and supported by the Circular Economy Development Center to address rural recycling transportation challenges. The goal of this program is to collect recyclable materials that are at risk of going to landfill due to challenges faced by small-scale generators: small accumulations of materials, prohibitive transportation costs and/or lack of access to hauling. Materials will be picked up at no cost. Generators will not be paid for materials.
Acceptable Materials
Aluminum cans
Cardboard (OCC)
Down-filled products (i.e., jackets, sleeping bags, comforters. No synthetic fill)
Office paper (white paper, not shredded)
Paper (mixed, not shredded)
Plastic film (HDPE and LDPE)*
Plastics #1 (PET)
Plastics #2 (HDPE)
Tin
Routes
CTN, in collaboration with Front Range Transload and B. Kirkland Trucking, will collect recyclable materials from generators along several routes throughout the state. Routes run at varying intervals and have some flexibility. Contact CEDC staff to inquire whether a truck could be routed through your area.
CTN is for small-scale generators of recyclable materials in rural or mountain communities throughout Colorado
The CTN program is designed to:
- Allow businesses and municipalities to recycle that couldn't do it otherwise
- Provide opportunities to divert materials that may not be available to communities currently
- Create economies of scale for small-scale generators who would find transportation costs of hauling material prohibitive
- Reduce trash hauling costs by reducing the volume of waste going to landfill currently
To Participate
1. Sign up to join the network
Once registered with CTN, you can make requests to have your materials picked up.
2. Collect materials
Consult the Acceptable Materials list to assure that your materials are eligible for pickup.
Materials must be clean, source separated, and free of hazardous materials such as pesticide and chemical residues.
At the time of pick up, all materials must be on pallets in gaylords, super sacks and/or bales. If you need help getting super sacks or pallets, contact CTN. We may be able to connect you with a source.
3. Submit a material pick-up request form
Requests will be reviewed for approval by program staff and end-market entities.
Note that submitting a form does not guarantee that materials will be qualified or added to a route. All materials must pass CTN’s end-market qualification process prior to approval. To qualify, materials must be on the list of accepted materials, meet the minimum quantity, have less than 5% contamination, and be clean, source separated and free of hazardous materials.
4. Schedule a pick up
If your request is approved, a program representative will be in touch to schedule your pickup.
More about the program
CTN is a pilot project that was developed by the CEDC in partnership with Front Range Transload and B. Kirkland Trucking and funded through the Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise Fund (C3). This proof-of-concept program utilizes trucks that deliver loads to communities throughout the state. Instead of returning to the Front Range empty, trucks will stop in communities along the way to backhaul recyclable materials to a transload facility in Pueblo where they will be aggregated, baled and sent to local and regional end-markets. There is no cost to collect the materials nor will the program pay for materials. While the material will be sold to end-markets, the goal will be to simply offset the cost of their transport.
The transload facility in Pueblo is not a MRF and cannot sort materials. Therefore, for the program to be successful, it is paramount that collection network partners provide clean streams of materials. Trucks will run routes on regular delivery schedules but will not run as frequently as dedicated trash haulers. It is important for CTN participants to understand that pickups will be scheduled in as timely a manner as possible, but there may be some delay between the pick-up request date and the actual pickup date. The CTN network will run as a program of the CEDC for the first year and will then be turned over to Front Range Transload to operate on a continuing basis.
Collaborative Circular Projects
The CEDC coordinates multi-stakeholder collaborative projects focused on specific materials.
Details of each of the CEDC’s active projects are below.
CEDC Projects
Colorado generates more than 7 million waste tires annually. Pretred manufactures premier rubber barriers made from recycled waste tires. Crumb rubber is the main ingredient in recycled tire products. Currently, Colorado does not have the infrastructure or companies willing to produce the volume of crumb necessary to supply Pretred. Pretred imports crumb rubber from other states to make their barriers.
The goal of this project is for the CEDC to assist Pretred in becoming a complete solution for tire recycling in Colorado by expanding their services to crumb rubber production. The CEDC will also facilitate introductions to public-sector decision makers and plans to have Pretred participate as a collaborator in expanded circular economy solutions in Colorado and the region.
As the Backbone of Recommerce™ since 2009, Tersus Solutions is the leading textile circularity operator and recycler of down products in the US. With their patented waterless, closed-loop cleaning system and proprietary recycling services, they recycle down-based products and produce a superior raw down material that can be reintroduced into the market.
The goal of this project is for the CEDC to assist Tersus in scaling their down recycling operations based in Colorado by growing down feedstock input. The CEDC will work with Tersus to set up new collection sites in Colorado and utilize the Circular Transportation Network to pick up and transport feedstock to Tersus.
Construction and demolition (C&D) waste makes up more than 30% of the material going to landfill in Colorado. There are two major challenges in diverting C&D waste from landfills: necessary C&D sorting and recycling centers and end markets for C&D materials.
The goal of this project is for the CEDC to assist Iron Woman in becoming a complete solution for C&D recycling in Colorado by establishing two full-service C&D recycling centers at their current locations in North Denver and South Denver. The CEDC will focus on assisting Iron Woman in establishing end markets for sorted C&D material and will also focus on crafting collaborative circular economy models that involve the entire life of materials, from generation, to hauling, to processing, to end-market manufacturing and back into the market as new products.
High-density polyethylene (PE) film can be processed into workable flakes ready for hot-mix asphalt (HMA) production. The CEDC is assisting Driven Plastics by helping to source suppliers or individual sources of plastic waste around Colorado and utilize the Circular Transportation Network to drop the material at their site in Pueblo. The CEDC and Driven Plastics will work together to identify and coordinate with owner agencies that will fund an asphalt paving project with a preferred HMA producer for construction.
The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) industry goals are to reduce landfill disposal of asphalt-based roofing materials to 50% by 2035 and to approach 0% by 2050. Colorado currently does not allow shingle recycling, so all shingle waste is going to the landfill.
Saint-Gobain North America, through its building products subsidiary CertainTeed Roofing, has a patented recycling process that will allow the company to recycle asphalt shingle waste by processing and pelletizing shingles to be used in hot mix asphalt (HMA). The goal of this project is for the CEDC to coordinate a paving project in Colorado to validate the process and the product and begin to move towards an option for the recycling of shingles in Colorado.
Coming soon
Interested in Establishing or Expanding Your Own Circular Solution in Colorado?
We’re here to help! Click the link below and fill out a brief questionnaire. Our team will get in touch with you within 3 business days!
Satellite Offices
Colorado Springs
Coordinator: Alicia Archibald
Office Address (by appt only):
Sustainacenter
704 East Boulder Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Grand Junction
Coordinator: Mike Ritter
Office Address:
Business Incubator Center
2591 Legacy Way
Grand Junction, CO 81503
