People may soon start paying for trash pickup in exchange for free recycling and composting services. Denver residents currently don’t pay for trash pickup. The rates proposed by the city would give people three options, ranging from $9 a month for a 35-gallon bin to $21 a month for a 95-gallon bin. Right now, recycling is free and picked up every two weeks. Composting costs $9.75 a month and is collected weekly.
A proposal for the new fee system was approved by a Denver City Council committee. The new fees aim to improve the city’s diversion rate — basically, the amount of waste that gets recycled or composted. They could cover recycling and composting bins for all residents.
Denver’s current trash collection process is far from perfect. New trash routes started on Jan. 1, but the rollout was rocky. The city, which has roughly 180,000 customers, recorded 19,975 missed collection calls since Jan 1., according to agency spokesperson Nancy Kuhn.