3 January 2011

The City of Colorado Springs will soon have public space recycling downtown and in some City parks at no cost to the City or taxpayers. The recycling will be made possible through a partnership with Greener Corners, a full-service public space recycling and environmental organization. Advertisements sold by Greener Corners will be placed on the sides of the recycle bins in order to cover the cost of the recycling program and earn some additional revenue for the City.

By April 2011, 225 recycling stations, which collect recyclables and trash side by side, will be installed in the core downtown area and several of the City’s large community parks and sports complexes where a trash hauling services contract is already in place. Recyclables will be hauled along with trash by Waste Management, the City’s current contracted waste hauler, at no additional cost to the City. By year three of the program, approximately 450 recycling bins will be placed in public areas and parks throughout Colorado Springs.

“This is a huge boost in creating a greener Colorado Springs and making recycling more widespread in our community,” says Sue Skiffington-Blumberg, Public Communications Manager. “By making recycling more convenient and through additional public education and outreach, we hope to instill the value of recycling in our community and begin to substantially reduce the amount of energy used and waste going into our landfills.”

Greener Corners will install and maintain the recycling stations, create a “Green Team” to conduct a public awareness campaign to educate citizens about the benefits of recycling, and, through collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, provide community impact progress reports with tangible results such as saved trees and pollution reduction. The partnership with Greener Corners came about as part of the city’s effort with Active Network to establish asset marketing programs with positive revenue streams and partnerships. In addition to the public benefit of recycling, the Greener Corners program could bring in as much as $2 million to the City General Fund over ten years based upon the Greener Corners proposal.

“Our partnership with Greener Corners is a win-win program,” says Skiffinton-Blumberg. “It’s a great way to help the planet by increasing recycling in our community and tackle some of our budget challenges at the same time. Greener Corners is exactly the type of partner Colorado Springs is looking for to increase services at no cost to citizens.”

For more information, click here or contact Julie Smith at jmsmith@springsgov.com.