Vail Hard to Recycle event set for May 9

The Town of Vail recently issued the following press release on its annual Hard to Recycle event in the Ford Park parking lot on Friday, May 9:

The Town of Vail will host a Hard to Recycle event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 9 at the Ford Park parking lot. This will be the only Hard to Recycle event in 2025.

The event is free for residents, property owners and those who work in Vail. Charges may apply for excessive volumes. No commercial collections will be accepted. 

The event will collect electronic waste, lightbulbs and batteries, household hazardous waste, yard and food waste and tires – maximum of four per person – and will offer paper shredding services. The event also will collect vinyl event banners; soft plastics such as plastic bags; white, clean rigid Styrofoam packaging from appliances; and white, clean Styrofoam coolers. Gently used outdoor gear, with the exception of climbing gear and helmets, also will be collected.    

• Electronics, including computers, printers, televisions, phones, and small appliances, will be recycled with IT Refresh from Fort Collins.  

• Household hazardous waste, including paint and paint related products, lawn and garden products like fertilizers and weed killers, light bulbs and batteries, household cleaning products and motor oil and antifreeze, will be collected by Veolia based in Henderson.  

• Tires and scrap metals will be recycled by Trinity out of Gypsum. There is a four-tire maximum.  

• 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.  

• Vinyl event banners will be upcycled into reusable grocery bags by Ecologic Designs in Boulder.  

• Galvanize Recycling from Colorado Springs will collect the soft plastics; white, rigid Styrofoam packing; and gently used outdoor gear (excluding climbing gear).    

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.  

At last year’s spring Hard to Recycle event, Vail community members shredded more than 6,300 pounds of paper; dropped off nearly 8,500 pounds of paint and chemicals and brought in more than 15,500 pounds of e-waste. Yard waste, tires, soft plastics, Styrofoam and vinyl banners accounted for 4,260 pounds of items collected. At the two Hard to Recycle events in 2024, Vail recycled 23 tons of otherwise hard to recycle materials. 

The current national recycling rate is 32% and 39% percent in Eagle County. In 2024, the Town of Vail achieved a 33% recycling rate—outperforming the state average of 16%. While this represents progress, Vail continues to work toward increasing the diversion of recyclable and organic materials to achieve its goal of becoming a zero-waste community. 

The May 9 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 Hunter Koch at 970-479-2338 or at hkoch@vail.gov.