Our Commitment to Voluntary Recycling

   What better gift can we leave our children and grandchildren than a legacy of conservation through voluntary recycling?

   Since 1983, Colorado Recycles has been the premiere organization dedicated to the promotion of voluntary recycling activities throughout the state of Colorado. Our mission, and our commitment, is to provide the leadership necessary to develop successful programs to educate the public about recycling, waste prevention and reduction, and other related issues.   

   We are a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, and we rely on the financial support of our members and friends to make these programs and activities possible. Since we are a 501(c)(3) organization, we do not engage in political activity or issue advocacy that would constitute lobbying activities.

This year, the programs and activities to be pursued by the members of Colorado Recycles are:

  Website: Our website has, once again, been completely revised. Become a frequent visitor to our website to stay current on our programs and projects, and to find other valuable information, resources, and links concerning recycling.

  Recycler of the Year Awards: Initiated in 1985, these awards have been presented to individuals, companies, and organizations who have demonstrated extraordinary commitments and achievements in recycling efforts. Nominations are made by the citizens of Colorado through an open nomination process. You can find more information about this award program by clicking the Recycler of the Year icon on the menu bar. The name "Colorado Recycler of the Year Award" is registered with the Colorado Secretary of State, and is protected as a registered servicemark.

We have temporarily suspended the Recycler of the Year recognition program. While the program has been a great way to recognize organizations, governmental entities, businesses and individuals who have made unique contributions to recycling in Colorado, the categories had become stale. The Board of Directors has undertaken a review of the categories to determine what changes should be made that will allow us to remain current with recycling technologies and efforts.

Additionally, Colorado Recycles and the Colorado Municipal League conducted an extensive survey of municipal trash hauling and curbside recycling programs throughout out Colorado. As a result of that survey, the two organizations now jointly host a new website dedicated to curbside recycling. The two organizations are now reviewing a recognition program that will identify outstanding curbside recycling efforts and programs.

  Recycling Guide: This year marks the seventeenth anniversary of the very valuable and informative Recycling Guide. Over the past several years, we have continually worked on the Recycling Guide to make it not only complete and informative, but also to make it easier and easier to use. In April, 2002, we established a searchable data base that has made the Guide very, very easy to navigate and has increased the reliability of the information. In 2005, we converted the Guide and its search engine from an Access data base to a more powerful MySQL data base. We now have more than 2,000 individual recycler records in the data base, and we track 50 different products and materials.

With the conversion to the MySQL data base, we organized the recyclers into categories to assist the public in locating a recycler that meets their needs. We group the recyclers by whether they are a drop off program, a curbside program, a statewide or regional recycler, a national recycler or a nonprofit recycler. We added the nonprofit category since many worthwhile nonprofit organizations recycle either for the purposes of fund raising or their mission is to assist the poor or community groups through recycling of materials such as computer technology. The name "Colorado Recycling Guide" is registered with the Colorado Secretary of State, and is protected as a registered servicemark.

  Other projects and activities: Colorado Recycles will continue to be a resource to the public, businesses, educational institutions, community groups and the media for information about recycling.

   Since its incorporation in 1983, Colorado Recycles has been structured to encourage the exchange of information among its members. In order to accomplish this desired communication, Colorado Recycles is organized into seven functional membership groupings. These membership groupings were selected to meet the needs of members with very similar interests in recycling.

   The members of the board of directors are elected by these membership groupings, and the board provides the synergy for the coordination of programs and activities to be undertaken by Colorado Recycles.

   Each member who joins Colorado Recycles is assigned to one of these seven membership groupings, and each member of a group has equal status with all other members of that group.

   The seven groupings of membership are:

Consumer/Non-profit Community Recyclers: This group of members includes consumers, consumer organizations and non-profit community groups, organizations or corporations principally engaged in the business of recycling.

Retail Service: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations that sell food products, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, etc. at retail to consumers.

Soft Drink Bottlers: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations that manufacture and sell soft drinks, nonalcoholic beverages and related food products.

Commercial Recyclers: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations engaged in the business of recycling and processing recyclable products and materials.

Malt Beverage Manufacturers and Distributors: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations engaged in the manufacture or distribution of malt beverages.

Container Services: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations engaged in the manufacture, supply or distribution of products directly connected with the ingredients or packaging of food products, soft drink beverages, alcoholic beverages or other products.

Allied Industries and Governmental Entities: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals, organizations, and governmental entities at all levels that are engaged in businesses or activities not directly related to recycling or the manufacture or distribution of products but who ascribe to the purposes and objectives of voluntary recycling efforts.

Q: Can anyone be a member of Colorado Recycles?
A: Yes.

Membership in Colorado Recycles is open to any citizen, business, government or other organization who wishes to support our efforts at promoting voluntary and market based recycling efforts. Our members come from all over the country.

Q: What are the dues to be a member of Colorado Recycles?
A: Currently, there is no formal dues structure. Colorado Recycles seeks to be accessible by all citizens, businesses, governments and organizations no matter how big or how small.

Q: How is Colorado Recycles structured?
A: The organization is comprised of seven groupings of membership. These groupings were established to promote the exchange of information among members who have very similar interests. The members of the board of directors are elected from these membership groups, and the board provides the synergy for the coordination of programs and projects to be undertaken by Colorado Recycles.

Each member who joins Colorado Recycles is assigned to one of our membership groupings. The seven groupings of membership are:

Consumer/Non-profit Community Recyclers: This group of members includes consumers, consumer organizations and nonprofit community groups, organizations or corporations principally engaged in the business of recycling;

Retail Service: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations that sell food products, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, etc. at retail to consumers.

Soft Drink Bottlers: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organization that manufacture or sell soft drinks, nonalcoholic beverages and related food products.

Commercial Recyclers: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations engaged in the business recycling and processing recyclable products.

Malt Beverage Manufacturers and Distributors: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations engaged in the manufacture or distribution of malt beverages.

Container Services: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals and organizations engaged in the manufacture, supply or distribution of products directly connected with the ingredients or packaging of food products, soft drink beverages, alcoholic beverages or other products.

Allied Industries and Governmental Entities: This group of members includes corporations, partnerships, individuals, organizations, and governmental entities at all levels that are engaged in businesses or activities not directly related to recycling or the manufacture or distribution of products but who ascribe to the purposes and objectives of voluntary recycling efforts.

Q: Who appoints the board of directors?
A: The by-laws establish the number of directors to represent each of the membership groupings. The members of that membership group elect their own directors, who collectively become the board of directors. Board members are elected for two year terms.

Q: Do members of the board of directors have to be residents of Colorado?
A: No. Board members are elected by their peers in their membership group, and do not need to be residents of Colorado.

Q: What kind of educational programs does Colorado Recycles support?
A: Like all nonprofit organizations that rely on generous members and contributors, Colorado Recycles has limited resources. Each year, the board of directors establishes priorities for programs and projects to be pursued for that year. Please review other areas of this website for current information on those specific programs and projects.

The current members of the Board of Directors for Colorado Recycles are:
President of the Board: Vice President: Treasurer: Secretary:	Charles Bayley, Waste Management Shayne Madsen, esq., Anheuser-Busch Pending vacancy appointment Sally Kline, McKenna, Long & Aldridge
Members:	Bob McNamara, Columbine Beverage Toney Anaya, Coca Cola Enterprises Jeff Stroh, Safeway Lupe De la Cruz, Pepsi Cola Tim Shestek, American Chemical Council Tracy Mihas, Altria Chris Harr, Denver Pepsi Cola Phil Lane, Colorado Springs Pepsi Cola Gilbert Canizales, Anheuser-Busch
Executive Director:	Richard G. Brown

These members may be contacted through this Web site by accessing our e-mail at Executive Director