Circular Transportation Network
The Circular Transportation Network (CTN) is a pilot project led and supported by the Circular Economy Development Center to address rural recycling transportation challenges. The program is designed to collect recyclable materials that are otherwise at risk of going to landfill due to challenges commonly faced by small-scale generators: small accumulations of materials, prohibitive transportation costs and/or lack of access to hauling services. Through the CTN, materials will be picked up at no cost to participants. However, please note that generators will not be paid for the materials collected.
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)*
Expanded polystyrene – Coming soon for select locations only
Plastics #1 (PET)
Plastics #2 (HDPE)
Tin
Participating Locations
The CTN’s transportation partners collect recyclable materials from generators throughout the state using a backhaul model. Because routes depend on the availability of outgoing hauls, pick ups run at varying intervals and to select destinations. To find out if your location is along a backhaul route and is eligible to participate, contact CEDC staff. They can confirm whether a truck can 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:
- Provide businesses and communities with opportunities to divert materials that are not currently accepted in their local recycling programs
- Support small-scale generators by developing economies of scale that offset high transportation costs for material hauling
- Lower trash hauling costs for businesses and communities by decreasing the volume of waste currently sent to landfills
To Participate
1. Submit an Inquiry Form
Once an inquiry form has been submitted, a representative will reach out to schedule a call. At that time, staff will determine whether you are located along a service route and are eligible to participate in the CTN.
2. Collect materials
Once you have had a call with CEDC staff and are approved to participate, you may begin collecting and storing materials listed on the Accepted Materials list for the CTN.
Materials must be clean, source separated, and free of hazardous materials such as pesticide and chemical residues.
For 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 supplier. Plastic film and EPS (expanded polystyrene) may be collected in 95-gallon LDPE trash bags.
3. Submit a material pick-up request form
Once you have collected the equivalent of at least six super sacks, bales or gaylords of material, you can request a pick up. All requests will be reviewed by CTN program staff and end market partners for approval.
Please note: Submitting a request does not guarantee pick up. All materials must pass CTN’s end-market qualification process. To qualify, materials must be on the list of accepted materials, meet the minimum quantity, have less than 3% contamination, and be clean, source separated and free of hazardous materials.
4. Schedule a pickup
If your request is approved, a program representative will contact you to schedule a pickup. Please note that all pickups are contingent upon transportation availability. Pickups can only be scheduled when a transportation partner has a haul to your area, so there may be a delay between you submitting your request and the actual 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 leverages trucks delivering loads to communities across Colorado. Rather than returning empty to the Front Range, trucks will stop in communities to backhaul recyclable materials to the Front Range where they will be aggregated, baled and sent to local and regional end-markets.
There is no cost to participate in the program, and the CTN does not pay for materials. While the material will be sold to end-markets, the goal of the program is to see whether the material value can offset the transportation costs and create a replicable model.
The materials are not taken to a MRF. To ensure the program’s success, it is critical that all materials are clean and source separated before pick up.
Pickups occur on return trips (backhauls) and are coordinated based on the availability of outgoing freight loads. These trucks do not run as frequently as those offered by dedicated trash haulers. While staff will work to schedule pickups as promptly as possible, some delay between your pickup request and actual collection may occur due to transportation logistics. The CTN will operate under the CEDC initially as a pilot program and will then be evaluated for long-term sustainability and potential transfer to a transportation partner for ongoing operation.
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.
Current Circular Solution 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 establishing a Colorado based facility to process waste tires into the feedstock needed to produce industrial rubber barriers, thus establishing Colorado as the first state to fully realize a truly circular waste tire model.
Construction and demolition (C&D) waste makes up more than 30% of the material going to landfill in Colorado, even though this waste stream contains a high-volume of recoverable materials including wood, metal, concrete, asphalt, cardboard, plastics, and drywall, Due to a lack of full-scale, dedicated C&D sorting and recycling facilities these materials end up in the landfill, even though they could be cost-effectively reused or recycled with the right infrastructure.
The goal of this project is for the CEDC to assist Iron Woman in establishing a full-scale C&D recycling center in South Denver, providing an urgently needed solution to support local ordinances, regional diversion goals, and the advancement of circular material markets. It will recover high-value materials such as treated and untreated wood, drywall, asphalt, concrete, cardboard, metal, and plastics.
Today, most of Colorado’s textile waste is landfilled or exported, contributing to resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and missed opportunities for local job creation and the creation of a circular economy for textiles. The state has multiple organizations with collection and sorting infrastructure and some start-up companies exploring advanced recycling and other technologies to deal with textile waste, but the state lacks a major processor to turn the textile waste into a textile resource for new manufacturing. Colorado is home to the outdoor industry and 100s of large events that also produce a large amount of textile waste with no outlet for recycling.
The goal of this project is for the CEDC to work with a third party to establish the first large-scale textile-to-fiber mechanical recycling system in Colorado, providing a solution for textiles that cannot be reused by processing them in-state into reusable fiber feedstock.
There is no statewide data on the amount of plastic waste that is generated and recycled each year in Colorado. However, based on national data and local waste audits, we estimate the amount generated to be somewhere in the range of 600,000-900,000 tons annually, with less than 10% being recycled. The percentage recycled is expected to increase in the coming years with the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation; however, we have very limited end markets at this time in Colorado.
The CEDC is currently working on a project assisting a manufacturing company that makes a coated textile in establishing a full-scale manufacturing facility in Colorado. At present, the company manufactures its product overseas using virgin polypropylene. Polypropylene is estimated to be 15-20% of plastic waste generated. With this project, the company will begin manufacturing in Colorado and using recycled polypropylene in its manufacturing process, thus providing an end-market for polypropylene in Colorado and advancing the use of a fully recyclable product to replace its non-recyclable competition.
.
Almost 90 thousand tons of electronics and batteries or “e-waste” are going to the landfill each year in Colorado, despite a Colorado state law that bans the disposal of e-waste from landfills. Devices with batteries are a significant and growing category of e-waste, with some estimates as high as 50%. In addition, they are also one of the most hazardous, resource-intensive, and economically challenging forms of e-waste. Of equal importance, we are not recapturing the value of those devices, which include critical minerals, ferrous and non-ferous metals and plastics. The critical minerals are an especially valuable resource as they are needed to keep up with the ever-growing demand for batteries and to help reduce our reliance on foreign supply chains.
The goal of this project is to establish a recycling facility within CO that utilizes a mechanical shredding technology that can safely and cost-effectively shred devices with batteries in them, which will not only increase the diversion rate of e-waste, but also allow Colorado to gain the economic value of its e-waste rather than shipping it out of state or out of the country.
Interested in Establishing or Expanding Your Own Circular Solution in Colorado?
We’re here to help! Click the link below to connect with our team and tell us about your circular solution.
Satellite Offices
Pueblo
Coordinator: Alicia Archibald
Office Address (by appt only):
Front Range Transload
604 W Third Street
Pueblo, CO
Grand Junction
Coordinator: Mike Ritter
Office Address:
Business Incubator Center
2591 Legacy Way
Grand Junction, CO
Cortez
Coordinator: Marianne Mate
Office Address (by appt only):
Colorado Welcome Center
928 E Main Street
Cortez, CO
Metro Denver
Main Office
Office Address (by appt only):
Circular Colorado
7270 W 118th Place
Broomfield, CO
