Denver Trash and Recycling Doesn’t Have Enough Resources Ahead of 2023 El servicio de basura y reciclaje de Denver no tiene recursos necesarios

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Trash, recycling, and composting is a basic and essential service for the public health and the environment. However, my team and I have found that Denver does not have enough resources to make this service efficient and is not ready to implement the new volume-based pricing program, known as “pay as you go”, in 2023.

The city provides trash and recycling services for 180,000 households. Under the new 2023 pricing model, the cost of weekly trash pickup is shifted to residents based on how much they throw away, while recycling and compost service will be included at no extra charge. The city hopes this will incentivize residents to recycle and compost more.

Our audit looked at how well the Solid Waste Management Division is ensuring timely trash and recycling service and reducing illegal dumping. We also evaluated whether the city is achieving its environmental goals and improving recycling rates.

We found that the city is providing these services with an aging truck fleet and their team is severely understaffed. Only in June 2022, the city had a 21% rate of vacant positions among drivers.

Denver Trash and Recycling Doesn’t Have Enough Resources

We also found Solid Waste Management does not have reliable data to track how well it responds to residents’ service requests when they report issues such as disrupted collection services or illegal dumping. Officials also cannot explain how they decided to change trash and recycling pick-up routes and schedules in 2022. These route changes were associated with an increase in reports of missed pick-ups.

Denver is also not ready to embrace its “pay-as-you-throw” program. In 2023, officials plan to charge between $9 and $21 per month, based on the size of the trash cart residents choose. However, they do not know whether the fees they set for next year will be enough to make the new program self-sustaining in the long run.

The city should create a strategic plan, lay out how it will regularly replace trucks over time, and address staffing gaps.

The solid waste team shares many of our concerns. I hope our findings can help them better manage resources and plan long-term, but for now they clearly don’t have what they need to ensure success.