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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Chaffee County nearly $4 million in grant funds to build and operate a new waste transfer station and materials recovery facility for recycling and organic waste. The grant award is part of the agency’s newly created Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling funding opportunity. 

“The project is still in early conceptual stages. Part of the EPA's grant funding will go to supporting the large scope of work that will be needed to create the site plan and facility designs, develop operating plans and determine how partnerships will be utilized,” Beth Helmke, deputy county administrator for Chaffee County, said. 

“To protect our environment for future generations, we must invest in comprehensive strategies to compost and recycle everything we can, giving our materials a second life,” said U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen in a Wednesday press release. “These EPA grants give our communities the tools they need to expand their operations and make a greater impact for Coloradans.”

Chaffee County Commissioner Keith Baker said, “This grant award is a testament to the continued emphasis Chaffee County has placed on being responsible stewards of our beautiful natural environment in the Arkansas River Valley. We share immense gratitude to the many local partners and community members that have supported waste diversion initiatives over the years, and of course to the EPA for the generous funding that will allow us to enact local solutions to our global waste management challenges.”

“Recycling and waste diversion are an important part of our sustainable future, and this grant is a big positive step in that direction,” added County Commissioner P.T. Wood.

The 2017-2019 Waste Audit found that municipal solid waste and organic wastes constitute about 60 percent of wastes dumped in the county landfill. An estimated 90 percent of that material is recyclable or compostable, but only 7 percent of that waste diversion potential is realized. In Chaffee’s 2021 recycling survey, 94 percent of respondents indicated that recycling is personally important to them.

County staff anticipates finalizing the grant award requirements and agreements with EPA in the coming months. Then, the county will start project scoping, site design and facility construction through competitive bidding processes, likely to launch in early 2024. According to the Wednesday press release, the county’s preliminary estimates are that the project budget will total at least $5 million. Full cost projections are not yet complete.

“The project specifics will be refined through the design process, after which time we'll be able to develop validated project costing and have much more robust and specific budget numbers,” Helmke said. 

The county based its estimated project costs used for the grant proposal on assumptions made for conceptual design specifications, existing conditions and earthwork requirements, comparisons of construction costs of similar transfer station/MRF facilities, inputs from solid waste management and facilities professionals, extrapolation of actual costs from other recent capital projects in the region, anticipated contractor costs and assumed expenses for machinery and other equipment. 

Once the new facility is in place, the county hopes to achieve at least a 50 percent reduction in divertible waste in the landfill. County staff plan to locate the facility at the landfill, though they still need further feasibility evaluations for the design process. 

“The exact location on the landfill property will be determined as we work through the site master design and assess which area(s) are suitable for the center and would complement the landfill's existing waste management operations,” Helmke said.

The county plans to partner with the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association to share updates on the recycling center project as it develops at GARNA.org/sustainability. GARNA has been a partner and technical advisor to Chaffee County’s waste diversion and recycling efforts for several years, engaged by the county to conduct the 2018-19 Waste Audit, facilitate a Waste Diversion Plan and enact a community education campaign. 

“We have no formal scope of work yet established with GARNA for the new recycling center project at this time, but can anticipate their involvement in many ways,” Helmke said. She also serves as the board chair of GARNA.

In addition, the county anticipates collaborating and consulting with “many individuals and organizations across our region and the state,” Helmke said. 

“It is too early to know how they’ll contribute,” she continued. “However, the recycling center will certainly be an effort through which the county plans to leverage the great experience, expertise and passion for recycling and environmental stewardship that we have across our region. This is truly a community project.”

The county has been evaluating a staffing model to add new positions to the landfill department to operate the recycling center, keeping it a county facility. The county has discussed the facility’s concept with local waste haulers and municipal leaders, but it is too early to know how it will play out. 

“They will continue to provide important technical insights throughout the project development,” Helmke said. “There may be aspects of its operation that the county contracts out. … The county has no plans to get into waste hauling services ourselves at this time.”

GARNA has also emphasized composting as a key component of waste management. 

Improvement to organic waste diversion is a goal for this effort as well, Helmke said. 

EPA's Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling program is advancing the Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to marginalized, underserved and pollution-burdened communities.

The EPA is also making $450,938 available to the state of Colorado to improve solid waste management planning and data collection in communities across the state. This funding to expand and create new waste management facilities in Colorado is part of the EPA’s largest recycling investment in 30 years.

Community members can find information on current waste diversion and recycling options at GARNA.org/sustainability.