Brighton leads way with new hauler licensing ordinance that guarantees free recycling

The City of Brighton (population 49,206) has become the first city in Colorado with an open market waste collection system (i.e., no hauler contract or municipally operated recycling trucks) to require free recycling. Currently, few Brighton residents have recycling as part of their trash service, and there are no places to drop off items like bottles, cans, and cardboard to be recycled. On July 21, the Brighton City Council unanimously approved an ordinance requiring trash and recycling haulers to obtain a license to operate in the city, starting Jan. 1, 2027. This is monumental because the ordinance requires haulers to automatically provide recycling to all their single family and multi-family customers at no cost.

The ordinance takes advantage of the state’s Producer Responsibility for Recycling program. Passed into law in 2022, Producer Responsibility requires producers that sell products in the state to fund recycling for their packaging. For example, soda producers pay for the recycling of cans and bottles. The state does not require haulers to participate. Brighton’s new requirement of haulers ensures all Brighton residents will receive free recycling services as the costs can be covered by Producer Responsibility. Haulers are required to provide the free service as long as the producer responsibility program is in effect. Haulers operating anywhere in Colorado can contract with Circular Action Alliance, the state’s Producer Responsibility Organization, to be reimbursed for the costs of providing recycling services through the state’s program.

Brighton residents have expressed interest in expanding access to recycling. As part of the effort to address this, the city explored options, including the switch to a single hauler program. With limited support for that approach, city council encouraged staff to pursue alternate options, including a hauler licensing program that would maintain an open market where residents can choose the hauler they prefer.   

Brighton’s new ordinance was developed through a no-cost consulting project from the Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise’s (C3’s) Strategic Technical Expertise for the Public Sector (STEPS) program. The city worked with STEPS consultants Eco-Cycle and Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) to develop the ordinance and the novel inclusion of free recycling for residents.

Brighton’s ordinance forges a new path to get recycling access to all residents in an open market system. Other cities across the state now have another model to follow for ensuring residents have recycling services.