Two and a half years after the vast majority of Denver voters approved an initiative requiring apartment buildings and restaurants to recycle and compost more of their waste, the city’s implementation of that mandate has hit another snag.
City officials, after convening a task force and soliciting input, have proposed ordinance updates that would result in enforcement finally beginning. But the initiative’s chief backer says the changes include too many exemptions from the rules that risk thwarting voters’ intent.
A City Council committee, citing those concerns, decided last week to postpone a vote advancing the changes to the full council.
While the requirements technically have been in place since they were approved in the November 2022 election, city officials have been working to formally implement them since then. Now, they’re recommending some changes and exemptions in an effort to balance the climate-friendly goals of the ordinance with business interests.
“The mayor has been clear on this point. He believes you can be both a climate-friendly city and a business-friendly city, and those are not in conflict,” said Tim Hoffman, director of policy for Mayor Mike Johnston’s office.
But GreenLatinos, an environmental advocacy group whose leader put the “Waste No More” measure on the ballot, says the suggested changes aren’t in line with what voters approved.
“This isn’t what the Denver voters want,” said Ean Tafoya, who was campaign director for the initiative. “Denver voters want action now, not delays.”
Following a presentation by the Office of Climate Action on May 7, Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez raised the concerns from GreenLatinos and asked to postpone the item until May 21.
Under the new recommended city rules, enforcement — which initially was supposed to roll out in phases on long-passed dates — would begin all at once in April 2026.
The voter-approved ordinance, which passed with about 71% of the vote — requires apartments, restaurants, commercial buildings and permitted events to provide recycling and composting services. Construction and demolition projects are also required to separate and recycle all recyclable materials, including concrete, asphalt and scrap metal.
The entities in charge of a property or event are required to pay for the access and pickup of recycling and composting.
The city provides composting and recycling pickup only for single-family homes and residential buildings with up to seven units.
In 2023, the mayor’s office convened a task force to make recommendations on how to implement it. It’s typical for local and state governments to make tweaks to citizen ballot initiatives once they’re approved to ensure they’re pragmatic or enforceable.
But Tafoya says many of the city’s new suggestions weren’t included in the group’s final report.
Under the city’s recommended guidelines, restaurants that bring in less than $2 million in revenue and have 25 or fewer employees would be totally exempt from the requirements. About 16% of the restaurants in Denver fall under those thresholds, Hoffman said.
That’s one of the biggest points of contention for GreenLatinos, Tafoya said.
“Businesses can be profitable and small businesses and do the right thing with waste diversion,” he said.
The city also suggests construction and demolition sites would be required to divert 50% of the waste generated on their sites away from landfills. Small projects, like construction sites of less than 500 square feet or interior remodels of less than 2,500 square feet, would be exempt. Other exemptions would include projects involving hazardous materials or emergency orders.
Multifamily residential buildings would be able to apply for exemptions for challenges like space constraints and the inability to secure a service provider for the waste.
Several categories, including multifamily residential buildings and special events, would offer exemptions if the property or event produces extremely small amounts of waste. Tafoya said he wants that to be better defined.
Special events drawing fewer than 350 people would also be exempt.
Properties and events would be required to create a compliant waste management plan and put up signage. They would also be susceptible to a fine of up to $999 for failure to comply.
“This is an education-first approach to enforcement,” said Jonathan Wachtel, the deputy executive director of the Denver Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency. “There is an action the city can take if we have someone that just doesn’t want to respond to education and outreach.”
Most of the entities impacted would be able to claim that they couldn’t meet the requirements because they posed an undue financial burden and apply for an individual exemption.
Tafoya and GreenLatinos planned to meet Wednesday with council members to discuss their concerns further ahead of next week’s meeting of the Business, Arts, Workforce, Climate and Aviation Services Committee.
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
Correction (updated May 14, 2015): Because of a reporter's error, the original version of this story misattributed a quote about Mayor Mike Johnston's belief that Denver can be both a climate-friendly and business-friendly city. The comment was made by Tim Hoffman, director of policy for the mayor’s office.
