Larimer County Solid Waste Department - About Larimer County

Larimer County
Solid Waste
Department
Annual Report
2004

From From the the Director’s Director’s Chair
Chair
Looking back at 2004 gives us
an opportunity to share what
we have accomplished over the
course of the year, as well as
helps direct us as we plan for
2005.
Early in the year, the Natural Resources
Department changed its
name to the Solid Waste Department.
The name change will help
customers better understand
what we do. But changing our
name did not change our mission,
and we remain committed to providing
excellent service.
MISSION
The mission of the Larimer County Solid Waste
Department is to supply integrated waste management
and forestry management in an environmentally
sound manner to the citizens of
Larimer County. Our primary emphasis is on
quality customer service superior to that normally
found in the public sector.
We are committed to providing excellence in the
services we deliver to the citizens of Larimer
County. We will provide these services in a professional,
simple and cost-effective manner, always
maintaining a high standard of ethics and foresight
and never compromising long-range needs for
short-term benefits.
The Solid Waste Department is
responsible for the Larimer
County Landfill and Recycling
Center, a household hazardous
waste facility, four rural waste
transfer stations and five rural recycling
drop-offs. In addition, the
county forester is part of the department.
In 2004, the landfill received
848,000 cubic yards of trash, an
amount that would fill a 35-story
building with a base the size of a
football field. The recycling center
processed 27,342 tons of recyclables,
and the household hazardous
waste facility diverted
more than 1.8 million pounds of
hazardous and restricted waste
from the landfill. The forester performed
175 site visits and answered
numerous calls on hazardous
vegetation. He also conducted
several building and site
landscape inspections. It was a
busy year
marked with a
few major ac-
complishments
that you’ll
read about in
these pages.
As the Solid
Waste Departmentcontinues
striving to
provide high
quality services
to Larimer
County residents,
we use
the county’s
vision statement
(at right)
as a tool to
help guide our decision-making
and determine our priorities.
Stephen Gillette
Director
Larimer County
Vision Statement
Larimer County will:
Build partnerships
Be customer driven
Be good stewards of our
resources
Empower people to take
responsibility
Be a fulfilling and enjoyable
place to work
This annual report is dedicated to
Michelle Duet, landfill gate attendant,
who died early in 2004.
Michelle was an inspiration to our
customers and to our department.
She is missed.

Contents
Landfill ................................................................................................... 1
Recycling Center .................................................................................. 3
Hazardous Waste.................................................................................. 5
Waste Transfer Stations ...................................................................... 7
Environmental Compliance............................................................... 8
Education................................................................................................ 9
Forestry .................................................................................................10
Looking Ahead ................................................................................... 11
Cover photos, clockwise from top, left: Linda Case, hazardous waste manager, assists a customer;
Dave Lentz, forester, reviews landscape plans; Patty Packrat welcomes visitors to the Garbage
Garage; Jeff Boltz, landfill equipment operator, gets ready to start the day; recyclers make use of the
county’s recycling drop-off.

Landfill
Landfill
In April, the county commissioners
approved a landfill expansion.
Prior to this, the Larimer
County Landfill had about five to
six years of capacity remaining.
The process of obtaining approval
for the expansion took more than
three years. Behind the scenes our
contractor, Terracon, along with
many other people, were busy
working on the technical aspects.
In January, the Larimer County
Planning Commission reviewed
the expansion proposal. This resulted
in a “location and extent”
approval, as well as approval for
a necessary rezoning of a portion
of the landfill. (The zoning had
been changed previously to site a
shooting range on landfill property;
the shooting range has since
been closed and we needed to revert
back to the original zoning
designation.) The final step was a
public hearing with the Board of
County Commissioners, at which
the commissioners gave final approval
to the expansion and re-
1
Cubic Yards
1200000
1000000
800000
600000
400000
200000
0
1993
1994
zoning. The expansion will result
in an additional 7 million cubic
yards of air space (volume) at the
landfill, providing
another 15 to 18
years of life based on
current fill rates.
Over the years,
the volume of
trash buried annually
at the landfill
has been mostly increasing.
In 2004,
however, a 10 percent decrease in
volume occurred (see chart below).
The decrease can be attributed
in part to the economy, but
is also due to some trash haulers
choosing to divert waste to other
area landfills. Time will tell if this
trend continues and what other
factors may be contributing to the
decrease.
In January, the landfill experienced
a dramatic rise in the
amount of tires delivered. A scrap
Annual Volumes of Trash at the Landfill
1995
1996
1997
1998
Year
1999
2000
tire handler had been bringing
large quantities of tires requiring
disposal—4,320 tires were
brought to
the landfill
(from this
handler and
other customers)
in
January
alone. This
is much
more than
the monthly
average of 300 to 600 tires. After
a quick investigation, we discovered
that we had the lowest tire
disposal rate in the area. The
Solid Waste Department didn’t
want the landfill to become home
for that many scrap tires, so we
held a public rate hearing in April
at which rates charged for tires
were revised, making the landfill
less attractive for scrap tire dealers.
After the rate change, tire volumes
returned to normal.
2001
2002
2003
2004

A survey of landfill and transfer
station customers asked
their preference for how they
want to be charged for trash:
based on volume or based on vehicle
type. The results showed
that most customers prefer to be
charged per cubic yard. With the
survey results in hand, the Solid
Waste Department received approval
from the county commissioners
in a public hearing to
change the methods used for assessing
fees at the landfill and at
the Berthoud and Wellington
transfer stations beginning in
2005. No changes were made at
the Estes Park transfer station,
where disposal fees are already
based on volume. The new fee assessment
method means that customers
will be charged more accurately.
The landfill
partnered
with Killian
Enterprise to
grind about
10,000 tons of
concrete waste.
The result was
a significant
supply of rock
that we will
use on the
landfill roads.
The supply
should last for
many years
and will save us the cost of purchasing
rock for quite awhile.
As we have for the last several
years, the landfill also partnered
with the public and tree haulers,
including other county departments
and the Cities of Fort
Landfill
Landfill
Concrete piles up before being ground into rock, as the pile in the
background has been.
Collins and Loveland, to keep tree
branches separate from regular
trash. The branches, along with
the Christmas trees accepted free
of charge from residents, are
ground into mulch and offered
free to the public in the spring.
Operating a landfill requires more than just
burying trash. Larimer County and Robert
Nielsen, landfill manager, take pride in managing
the landfill site with the environment and aesthetics
in mind. Phase 3 (see map at left) was
capped and seeded in spring, and with the summer
moisture, we had green fields throughout the
summer and into fall. We also seeded two additional
areas with temporary vegetation (to keep
erosion to a minimum until that land is used
again), and we expect to see more green in these
areas come spring.
In addition, landfill staff widened Fossil Creek,
which runs through the north part of the property.
The widening will slow water flow and decrease
erosion. The area was reseeded as well.
2

Recycling Recycling Center
Center
This was the final year of the
initial 10-year contract for the
operation of the Larimer County
Recycling Center. A public committee
formed late in 2003 continued
working in 2004 to develop a
Request for Proposals (RFP) for a
recycling center operator. The
committee identified
the contractor qualifications
and requirements
necessary to
meet the recycling
needs of our citizens.
The RFP resulted in
five proposals from
vendors interested in
operating the facility.
After evaluation, Recycle
America Alliance,
LLC, (RAA, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Waste Management,
Inc.) was unanimously
selected to operate the facility.
RAA’s proposal offered opportu-
3
Prices offered by the
Larimer County
Recycling Center,
December 2004
(Minimum load required is 400 pounds,
except aluminum.)
Material Price/ton Price/lb
Aluminum N/A $.18
Cardboard, baled $24.00 $.012
Cardboard, loose $34.00 $.017
Newspaper $36.00 $.018
Coated paper $44.00 $.022
Office paper $36.00 $.018
Magazines $20.00 $.010
Mixed paper $0.00 $.00
nities to add materials to the curbside
collection of recyclables and
to make the Larimer County Recycle
Center economically sustainable.
The new contract began January
1, 2005. After a 10-month interim
period, RAA will provide the op-
portunity for collecting more materials
curbside. The City of
Loveland’s Solid Waste Division
will pilot the program during the
third quarter of 2005. The change
will offer curbside collectors the
choice of collecting materials in a
single stream (in which all allowable
recyclables are mixed in a
single container) or dual-stream,
as they do currently (with paper
in one bin and commingled containers
in another).
The end result of the
new contract and the
offer of single-stream
collection is better customer
service and
greater convenience for
county residents who
recycle. Curbside recyclers
will eventually be
able to add paperboard
and corrugated cardboard
to their recycling
bins at home. The upcoming
changes should translate into
more waste diverted from the
landfill.
Recyclers take advantage of the free drop-off facility at the Larimer County Recycling Center. The
drop-off accepts office paper, newspapers, magazines and catalogs, junk mail, corrugated
cardboard and brown paper bags, paperboard and low-grade paper, and commingled containers
(glass and plastic bottles and jars; steel and aluminum cans).

Tons Processed
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Recycling Recycling Center
Center
LARIMER COUNTY RECYCLING CENTER
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
IN-COUNTY TONS PROCESSED*
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
JAN 298 1,527 1,540 1,535 1,433 1,652 1,831 2,031 2,190 2,040 2,061 2,161
FEB 385 1,213 1,350 1,537 1,312 1,530 1,688 2,004 1,901 1,857 1,690 1,894
MAR 606 1,591 1,612 1,539 1,498 1,689 2,048 2,384 1,995 1,902 1,862 2,278
APR 1,060 1,514 1,481 1,666 1,583 1,769 1,991 2,204 2,053 2,076 2,077 2,186
MAY 1,042 1,630 1,654 1,712 1,641 1,792 1,917 2,432 2,266 2,206 2,112 2,067
JUN 1,215 1,615 1,652 1,548 1,534 1,849 2,095 2,451 2,049 1,898 2,058 2,316
JUL 1,140 1,468 1,429 1,583 1,853 1,920 1,998 2,275 2,020 2,114 2,276 2,185
AUG 1,288 1,708 1,614 1,556 1,955 2,262 2,065 2,490 2,255 2,135 2,196 2,367
SEP 1,248 1,712 1,509 1,595 1,898 2,325 2,159 2,334 1,835 2,083 2,273 2,227
OCT 1,545 1,717 1,604 1,687 1,843 1,962 1,986 2,508 2,200 2,226 2,281 2,143
NOV 1,521 1,836 1,596 1,558 1,640 1,969 2,205 2,379 2,186 2,095 1,994 2,219
DEC 1,768 1,721 1,519 1,680 1,893 1,993 2,335 2,288 2,008 2,233 2,414 2,381
Total 13,116 19,253 18,561 19,196 20,084 22,713 24,316 27,779 24,958 24,863 25,295 26,424
*As reported by recycling center operator, Waste Management, Inc. Includes only recyclable material from sources within
Larimer County.
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
4

Hazardous Hazardous Waste Waste Program
Program
Many changes occurred to
the hazardous waste program
in 2004. Operating hours
were expanded to meet the needs
of our residential customers. The
facility is now open every Saturday
(previously, it had been open
only two Saturdays per month),
and closing time was moved from
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. With the
added days and hours, a new
technician assistant position was
added to the staff, and the program
diverted more than 1.8 million
pounds of restricted waste
from the landfill.
5
No. of Customer Transactions
Some interesting trends
were noted in the residential
program regarding
the number of participants
as well as the materials
collected and given
away at the Drop ‘n’
Swap. The collection of
regulated waste (waste
banned from landfills) increased
from 2003 by only
3,139 pounds, while the
non-regulated waste (not
officially banned, yet still
unwanted in our landfill)
increased by more than 138,000
pounds. So this year, the household
hazardous waste program
collected more materials like latex
paint than, for instance, pesticides.
Another unusual trend was the
reduction (by about 400) in the
number of residents dropping off
Residential Customers
Year
Hazardous waste technician Jeff Leleszi helps a
customer at the Drop ‘n’ Swap.
waste at our facility. Yet, the
number of shoppers picking up
free reusable items at the Drop ‘n’
Swap increased by more than 850
from the previous year. This year
was the first that we had more
customers taking advantage of
the reuse program as opposed to
the disposal program.

Pounds
2,000,000
1,800,000
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
1,454 3,476 22,487 72,589
The Estes Park collection
event was the only rural
collection event held in 2004.
The one-day function ran
smoothly, serving 100 residents.
More than 4,000
pounds of hazardous waste
and 10 cubic yards of latex
paint and non-hazardous
waste were dropped off with
us for disposal.
Rural collection events make it
easier for residents in outlying
areas to properly dispose of
leftover household chemicals.
We typically conduct one or
two such events each year.
Hazardous Hazardous Waste Waste Program
Program
Combined Waste Totals Per Year
Hazardous and Non-hazardous Wastes
Hazardous and Non-hazardous
75,949
503,994
802,432
1,352,437
1,072,378
1,513,576
1,629,315 1,628,561
1,704,321
1,713,238
1,580,727
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Year
1,854,547
Services provided to local businesses increased. The
Business Hazardous Waste Assistance Program and
Education (BHAPE) had 237 commercial visits from 166
businesses. Of those, 86 were new customers.
BHAPE works with qualified small businesses to save
them money when managing hazardous and non-hazardous
wastes and to ensure that business wastes are disposed
of or recycled properly. We also offer suggestions
for waste minimization. Types of businesses we work
with include auto repair shops, woodworkers, exterminators,
print shops, photo shops, painting contractors,
and others.
6

Waste Waste Transfer Transfer Stations
Stations
The Solid Waste Department
manages three rural transfer
stations, one each in Wellington,
Berthoud and Red Feather Lakes.
A fourth transfer station in Estes
Park is owned by the department
but operated by Waste Management,
Inc. (See bottom of page for
information specific to the Estes
Park Transfer Station.)
Each transfer station
has its own days and
hours of operation,
usually just one or two
days a week, with
fewer hours in the winter.
Transfer stations
make it easier for residents
in these rural areas
to dispose of household
wastes. The
wastes collected are periodically
transported
to the Larimer County
Landfill.
In June 2004, the Red
Feather transfer station
closed when the U.S.
Forest Service, from which the
land was leased, chose not to renew
the lease. We are currently
trying to build a partnership with
another government agency to
bring a transfer station back to
the community. Any new transfer
station will be modernized with a
compactor and electricity. Compactors
are beneficial because
they keep the trash in a covered
container and reduce the likelihood
of wind-blown trash. They
also keep wildlife from getting
into the trash. Berthoud and
Wellington already have compactors
(placed in 2001).
7
No. of Customers
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
The transfer stations, funded by
user fees, are not self-supporting
and are subsidized by landfill
user fees when necessary. In
2004, the landfill subsidized the
transfer stations more than
$28,000, or 71 percent of total
expenses.
Customers Served
1459 1453
Wellington Berthoud Red Feather*
Shown above is the number of customers served in 2004 at the transfer
stations. The numbers are similar to those from 2003.
* The Red Feather transfer station closed in June.
The Estes Park Transfer Station,
in operation since
1983, is managed by Waste
Management, Inc. Estes Park
residents and visitors can take
household trash as well as recyclables
and some hazardous
wastes to the transfer station.
In 2004, the Estes Park Transfer
Station collected and transferred
to the Larimer County
Landfill nearly 60,000 cubic
yards of waste, or 662 tractortrailer
loads.
The Solid Waste Department
values customer input and
truly listens to what customers
want. Two customer surveys
were completed in 2004 regarding
the Wellington and Berthoud
transfer stations. The first survey
asked Wellington customers if the
Wellington transfer station should
remain open
Wednesdays during
the summer as it has
been. Their overwhelming
response
was yes, and as a result
we will continue
in 2005 with the
same operating
schedule as in previ-
323
ous years.
The second survey
asked the customers
of both transfer
stations if our fees
should be based on
the volume of trash
contained in a
vehicle or if they
should continue to
be based on vehicle type. The
survey was conducted in
conjunction with a similar one for
landfill customers. Customers of
both transfer stations as well as
the landfill chose to change the
way we charge and start using a
volume-based method. (The Estes
Park transfer station already
charges this way so no change
was necessary there.) The survey
results were brought before a
public hearing in December, and
the county commissioners
approved the change.

The Solid Waste Department
strives to minimize the
landfill’s environmental impact
and protect the health and safety
of our customers, employees and
neighbors. We must also control
pollution and comply with state
and federal environmental regulations
to operate as a “sanitary
landfill.” To ensure that our facilities
are in compliance is the job of
the department’s environmental
scientist, Steve Harem.
Gases produced by decomposing
waste are always a concern
at a landfill. With high concentrations
of methane, landfill
gas poses the risk of fire or explosion
and is a source of air pollution
and odors. Gas can migrate
to neighboring properties if not
properly vented at the landfill, so
gas concentrations are monitored
regularly to ensure that methane
does not cross the property line.
In 2004, two new gas monitoring
probes were installed along the
north property boundary. As a
source of air pollution, landfill gas
emissions are regulated by the
Clean Air Act because the gas
contains volatile organic compounds
like benzene and toluene,
which create smog and can cause
health problems. We monitor the
chemistry and volume of gases
produced by the landfill and report
annual emissions to the Colorado
Department of Public Health
and Environment (CDPHE) and
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. In 2004, we conducted a
Tier 2 landfill gas evaluation—an
extensive gas sampling and analysis
effort—and concluded that the
landfill’s emissions are well below
regulatory limits. This means that
Environmental Environmental Compliance
Compliance
an expensive gas collection and
control system will not be necessary
for at least another five
years.
Surface water pollution prevention
is another aspect of environmental
compliance. Since sediment
in stormwater runoff can
impact local surface waters, soil
erosion is a major concern at the
landfill. Various operation, construction
and monitoring activities
are conducted to control erosion.
Most significant in 2004 was
the closure of the Phase 3 area
(see map, page 1), with construction
of drainage ditches and pipes
designed to carry runoff water to
the Fossil Creek stream channel.
The entire 14-acre area was
revegetated with grasses to hold
the soil and prevent erosion, especially
on the steep outer slopes.
The county’s engineering department
provided construction management,
on-site inspection and
surveying services for the project.
Solid Waste personnel periodically
inspect the landfill facility to
identify and correct erosion problems.
Fuel, oil and other liquids
stored and used on site can also
potentially pollute the local surface
waters. To prevent spills of
hazardous materials from storage
tanks or other facilities, we conduct
staff training and regularly
inspect and maintain storage facilities
and equipment. No spills
occurred in 2004.
Groundwater sampling is
conducted quarterly to monitor
the landfill’s impact. Hazardous
chemicals in buried trash may
leach from the landfill and pollute
local groundwater. Our House-
hold Hazardous Waste Program
helps prevent groundwater pollution
by keeping hazardous materials
out of the trash. In the areas
south and east of the landfill,
2004 monitoring continued to
show no impact from the landfill.
In the area northeast of the landfill,
where minor contamination
has existed for several years, we
closely monitor the extent and severity
of contamination. Routine
monitoring in 2004 confirmed
that the contamination is not
spreading, and pollutant concentrations
have decreased slightly.
More extensive chemical analyses
conducted in October detected no
new pollutants in the affected
water. The Phase 3 closure should
further improve water quality in
the future. Trash in Phase 3 is
now covered with more than four
feet of soil, including an 18-inch
layer of densely compacted clay,
which will prevent rain and
snowmelt from seeping through
the buried waste and carrying
contaminants into the groundwater.
Environmental Highlights
• Inspections by the Air Pollution
Control Division and the Hazardous
Materials and Waste
Management Division of the
Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment found
the landfill in compliance with no
violations.
• Closure of the Phase 3 area
was completed in June with the
construction of a final cover and
drainage facilities, and then
revegetation of the area.
8

Education
Education
The goal of the education program
is to provide information
in an accessible manner to
the general public. We are the
only waste facility in northeastern
Colorado that offers tours of
several facilities all on one site:
the recycling center, landfill,
household hazardous waste facility
and education center. Many
tour groups routinely come from
the Denver area, and even as far
away as Nebraska, to visit our facilities.
Visitors are often elementary
students, but range from
preschoolers to senior citizens,
from church groups to scout
groups, and from groups of 120
people to small families.
Because the number of visitors
has increased greatly since the
addition of the education center,
this year staff looked at ways to
keep visitors safe as they walk
among the facilities. Commercial
drivers that come to the landfill
and recycling center don’t expect
to see groups of students walking
around the area. Thus, we have
decided to add crosswalks, signs
and specific waiting areas to ensure
the safety of all involved.
Partnerships are key to the success
of the Garbage Garage education
center, as well. Several
teachers and local groups make
the Garbage Garage a yearly stop.
Without the help of two dedicated
volunteers, Wally Jacobsen
and Wanda Mayberry, tours
would not run as smoothly. We
hope to expand the volunteer
program in 2005, and we are also
hiring part-time help to assist in
giving tours of our facilities.
9
In 2004, about 2,100
people of all ages visited
the education center and/
or our other facilities. The
number of tours scheduled
was 116, and a spring
open house at the
Garbage Garage was a
great success.
The education program continues
to partner with the Cities
of Fort Collins and Loveland in
outreach opportunities. This year,
we put together a comprehensive
advertising package that will include
two television commercials
and four 30-minute talk shows
about specific waste-related topics.
The “Jars and Bottles and
Cans” commercial, with a Wizard
of Oz theme, aired locally on several
cable channels in the fall and
continues to be aired on Fort
Collins’s Channel 27. It can also
be viewed on the Larimer County
and City of Fort Collins Web sites.
The first talk show, an overview
of recycling, was produced in the
fall also. The show is aired periodically
on local cable channels.
The Recyclone Times, a biannual
newsletter distributed in
most major newspapers throughout
the county, is another continuing
example of a successful
partnership among the county
and the Cities of Fort Collins and
Loveland. The newsletter is a hit
with the general public; after distribution,
Cheryl Kolus, the
department’s environmental educator,
typically gets several calls
from individuals and groups requesting
extra copies. Another
newsletter, The Landfill Update, is
also distributed two to three times
a year to a subscriber list of more
than 500.
Information booths at events like
the Holistic Arts Fair in Fort
Collins and at Colorado State
University’s America Recycles
Day celebration help educate the
public about waste and recycling
issues.
T he education program not
only showcases our services,
but also encourages waste reduction
and reuse to decrease the
amount of trash dumped in the
landfill or recycled, since even recycling
consumes resources that
reducing and reusing would not.

In December 2004,
the county forester,
Dave Lentz, was reappointed
as the
County Pest Inspector
for another twoyear
period. As such,
Dave addresses four
insect pests or disease
agents in Larimer
County: Dutch elm
disease, spruce ips, mountain pine
beetle and Douglas fir beetle.
This tree shows evidence of a spruce ips
infestation.
Hazardous vegetation
includes branches in
danger of falling on
passersby and trees or
shrubs along roadways
that block the line of
sight for drivers.
Tree recovery was the theme of
2004, with cooler temperatures,
an early monsoon and increased
moisture levels improving
tree conditions. Unfortunately,
the drought conditions of the past
several years have increased the
stress level of trees to the extent of
mortality in some cases. The high
stress levels have caused a rise in
insect populations, both native
and exotic. Improved weather
conditions, however, appear to
have resulted in a collapse in the
more damaging insect populations.
It is now important to identify
the areas of stress and mortality
to take sanitary measures to
reduce roadside hazards and
eliminate brood wood of the more
destructive bark beetles and
bores.
Forestry
Forestry
In 2004, Dave received 161
calls for assistance that required
visits to 175 sites. Hazardous vegetation
complaints increased 76
percent from 2003, with 30 complaints
received, concerning 41
sites needing attention. While a
few of the complaints were addressed
by property owners, 37
were taken care of by the forester,
the county’s road and bridge department
or a hired contractor. In
addition, Dave performed 33
landscape inspections for the
county’s planning and building
services division.
Insect/Disease Pest Inspections Tree Removal Required
Dutch elm disease 4 1
Mountain pine beetle 14 0*
Spruce ips 20 30**
Douglas fir beetle 0 0
*All inspections for mountain pine beetle were owner-requested; although mountain pine beetle was found on a
number of the sites, the forester choose not to take enforcement action.
**This reflects an increase of 400 percent from 2003.
10

Looking Looking Ahead Ahead to to 2005
2005
A year of opportunities awaits the
Solid Waste Department in 2005. The
forestry program may be relocated to
another county department, which will
enable the county to better use this
resource. The landfill will begin charging
its customers based on volume
rather than vehicle type, in response to
customer input; we’ll be researching
possible partnerships to collaborate on
the collection of electronic scrap (such
11
as old computers); and we hope to site
a new transfer station for the Red
Feather Lakes area. In addition, the
new recycling contract will help divert
more materials from the landfill, and
we look forward to setting regular operating
hours for the Garbage Garage
Education Center, so it can be open
for drop-in visitors as well as scheduled
tours. The department will further
explore the possibility of moving its
The Solid Waste Department is...
Building partnerships
Customer driven
A good steward of our resources
Empowering people to take responsibility
A fulfilling and enjoyable place to work
administrative office to the landfill, reducing
travel time and expenses for
employees who do business at both
locations, and of course, we will continue
researching future solid waste
opportunities.
These challenges and opportunities will
keep the Solid Waste Department
busy in 2005 and beyond.

Larimer County Solid Waste Department
PO Box 1190
200 W. Oak St., Suite 4000
Fort Collins, CO 80522
(970) 498-5760
www.larimer.org/solidwaste
Printed March 2005 on recycled paper.