Vail Hard to Recycle event scheduled for May 10

The Town of Vail recently issued the following press release on its spring Hard to Recycle event set for Friday, May 10:

The Town of Vail’s spring Hard to Recycle event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 10 at the Ford Park parking lot. The event will collect electronic waste, household hazardous waste, yard waste, household compost and tires – maximum of 4 per person – and will offer paper shredding services. New this year, the event will also collect soft plastics such as plastic bags; white, clean rigid Styrofoam packaging from appliances; and white, clean Styrofoam coolers. 

The town’s biannual recycling events are free for residents, property owners and those who work in Vail. Charges may apply for excessive volumes. No commercial collections will be accepted.   

Electronics, including computers, printers, televisions, phones, and small appliances, will be recycled with IT Refresh from Fort Collins. Household hazardous waste, including batteries, paint and paint related products, lawn and garden products like fertilizers and weed killers, household cleaning products, batteries, and motor oil and antifreeze, will be collected by Veolia based in Henderson. Tires will be recycled by Trinity out of Gypsum. Paper will be shredded by Alliance Moving from Gypsum and then recycled at the Eagle County Materials Recovery Facility. Yard waste and household compost will be taken to the Vail Honeywagon Organics commercial compost facility where it will become compost. Galvanize Recycling from Colorado Springs will collect the soft plastics and white, rigid Styrofoam packing.   

The following items will not be accepted at the event: fire detectors, fire extinguishers, biomedical waste, explosives, Styrofoam packing peanuts, Styrofoam cups or take-out food containers, large appliances, or anything with refrigerant or freon. There are some exceptions on soft plastics accepted as well. Visit www.lovevail.org/hard-to-recycle-events for a list of accepted items and event details. 

The current national recycling rate is 32%. Colorado has a 16% recycling rate and Eagle County has a recycling rate of 39%. In 2023, the Town of Vail achieved a 36% recycling rate, but still has work to do to increase the diversion of recyclable and organic material and become a zero-waste community. At the two Hard to Recycle events in 2023, Vail was able to recycle over 30 tons of otherwise hard to recycle materials, making a large contribution to the total.   

The May 10 event is funded by fees remitted to the town through the “kick the bag habit” program. With the implementation of the statewide Plastic Pollution Reduction Act in 2023, all retailers in Vail are required to charge a 25-cent fee for single use bags. Retailers remit 40% of the collected fees to the town, which funds several waste diversion initiatives including hard to recycle events and composting programs. It is illegal in the State of Colorado to dispose of electronics with regular trash.  

For additional information, contact Katherine Blocker at 970-479-2211 or at kblocker@vail.gov.