This ordinance requires apartment complexes, restaurants, office buildings and other businesses in Denver to offer recycling and composting services to their patrons, tenants and employees. The ordinance requirements go into effect September 1, 2026.
What Is Denver’s Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance?
The City and County of Denver (CCD) initiated ordinance 306, Denver's Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance (previously called Waste No More), to raise diversion rates and reduce single-use plastics and food waste.
What Is the Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance?
Why Is It Important?
Denver's Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance aims to create a more sustainable city by reducing waste, increasing recycling and promoting responsible consumption choices. Denver currently diverts less than 30% of all solid waste generated citywide from the landfill. The goal is to reach a citywide diversion rate of 70% by 2032.
Who Does It Impact?
Businesses
Commercial facilities, including restaurants, retail stores, office buildings, stadiums and arenas, must provide recycling and composting.
WM can provide technical assistance to help determine the appropriate container size and collection frequency for organics, trash and recycling.
Multifamily/Residents
Residential buildings with eight or more dwelling units must provide recycling and composting.
WM can provide educational materials for waste reduction and signage to help employees and tenants sort materials correctly.
Construction & Demolition
All construction and demolition projects in Denver must reuse or recycle recoverable building materials. All projects will need to submit a recycling and reuse plan to the city to confirm compliance with the ordinance prior to obtaining a construction or demolition permit.
Special Events
All permitted special events in Denver must also provide recycling and composting. Owners or operators of permitted events must provide recycling and organic material collection to their employees, contractors, and customers.
WM can recommend container quantity, size and location to optimize collection. We can also provide educational materials to clearly denote what is recyclable and what is compostable.
Need Assistance?
WM has the equipment and expertise to help your business, event or construction project meet the ordinance requirements. We can recommend the number, size and type of containers and frequency of collection service for your recycling and composting needs.
For construction, we can provide dedicated roll-offs to collect recyclable materials including asphalt, readily recyclable concrete, clean wood, scrap metal and corrugated cardboard. We can track the amounts recycled for your annual recycling reporting to the city.
Contact WM for a review of your facility or project and the services WM can provide to ensure you help meet the goals of Denver's Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance.
- For construction projects, contact Gail Falasco ([email protected]).
- For commercial businesses, please call 720-719-0680.
Together we can move Denver to a more sustainable future. At WM, we are Always Working For A Sustainable Tomorrow.®
Visit the Denver city website to get more information.
Additional Resources
Download the Denver Compost flyer to see acceptable materials for your Denver compost container and learn about the acceptable compost bags as listed by the Compost Manufacturers Alliance.