Top: Colorado’s rebate for recycling creates a template for rebates for food waste drop-off sites. Photo courtesy Rutland County Solid Waste

The Colorado Circular Communities (C3) program provides grants, funded by a fee on solid waste disposed in Colorado landfills, that promote a circular economy. The program is administered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Recently, BioCycle received a press release from C3 announcing it is accepting applications to provide financial assistance in the form of rebates to entities operating free, public recycling drop-off sites for the collection and transportation of recyclables to processing facilities. Any local government, nonprofit, or for-profit entity within the State of Colorado that meets eligibility requirements (minimum of 10 tons of qualifying recyclables in the rebate year and still operating) may apply. The first thought that popped into our minds is “wouldn’t it be cool if this rebate also applied to food waste drop-off sites?” The majority of drop-off sites for residential food scraps do not accept yard trimmings, making it very feasible to quantify the amount dropped off on an annual basis. A rebate would incentivize those operating the sites to increase the quantity of food waste diverted. To BioCycle’s knowledge, a rebate like this doesn’t exist, although we are aware of municipalities that offer a rebate to residents for purchasing home composting bins.