Creating Systemic Change Through Statewide Policy

Colorado recycles and composts only 16% of its waste—just half the national average of 32%. To significantly increase Colorado’s waste diversion, we need to change the system. We need to make recycling, composting, and other Zero Waste solutions more accessible and convenient to everyone in the state, regardless of where they live, work, or recreate. The best way to achieve this is to adopt state policies that improve Zero Waste infrastructure, services, and programs, and help develop recycling end markets. 

What We Accomplished During the 2026 Colorado General Assembly

Created a system to collect and recycle electric vehicle batteries: Senate Bill 26-003 passed and signed into law

What happens to those big batteries in electric vehicles (EVs) once they reach the end of their useful life? EV batteries contain valuable materials that can and should be recaptured and reused. As Coloradans increasingly switch to EVs, demand for critical minerals—such as lithium and cobalt—grows to power these vehicles. This law requires car manufacturers to develop a plan to educate the public, collect unwanted EV batteries, and recycle them. SB26-003 establishes a national model that other states could follow, ensuring that valuable minerals are recaptured into the supply chain. The law rightfully emphasizes the reuse of EV batteries prior to recycling, building on existing free-market pathways, and requires battery producers to label EV batteries with information to make them easier to recycle starting in 2028. 

Provided assistance to landfills complying with the methane monitoring rule: Senate Bill 26-101 passed and signed into law

Last year, Colorado approved new regulations to reduce methane and toxic air emissions from landfills. These regulations, which are a big win for public health and our climate, include cost-effective, commonsense standards to modernize how landfills manage methane monitoring, gas destruction, and leak repair. The regulations replace outdated practices with updated standards that reflect current science and modern technology. When first introduced, Senate Bill 26-101 contained language that would have undermined these new landfill methane regulations, circumventing over a year of negotiations to reach consensus and a workable compromise between landfills, local governments, environmental groups, and other impacted communities. Eco-Cycle staff worked with our allies to successfully amend the bill to remove the loopholes for landfills that would have allowed them to avoid compliance. The law now only contains funding opportunities to help landfills comply with the new rule. 

Defended Right to Repair: Senate Bill 26-090 successfully defeated in the House

When consumers’ equipment breaks, we should have the right to fix it—simple as that. Thanks to Colorado’s nation-leading Right to Repair laws, including most recently HB24-1121, we’ve made real progress toward that goal.

SB26-090 threatened to roll back that progress by carving out exemptions for “critical” IT equipment, such as servers and routers. While targeted exemptions for legitimate security concerns may make sense, excluding all servers and routers would undermine the law’s very intent. This bill would have led to higher costs, fewer repair options, and more electronic waste. Eco-Cycle worked hard to fight this effort and protect consumers’ right to repair. Repair is a vital aspect of reuse, both of which lengthen the amount of time products can be used, reducing their environmental impacts. Allied organizations, led by the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG), helped defeat this bill.

Advocated for the elimination of unwanted plastic waste with Skip the Stuff: SB26-146 passed, vetoed by Governor Polis

Billions of disposable takeout items are handed out every year—many are never used, yet they still use natural resources to produce, cost money, and create unnecessary waste. Building on lessons from across the US, SB26-146 would have made single-use items available by request only, cutting costs for food businesses, reducing trash, and giving customers more agency over the items they receive. Eco-Cycle supported the bill because it would be a win for restaurants, customers, and the environment.

Unfortunately, Governor Polis vetoed the bill on June 2, 2026, based on two reasons that bill advocates think are unwarranted based on the bill’s language. First, he stated that the decision to implement a single-use serviceware law should be left up to local governments. SB26-146 was intentionally written to create a statewide expectation for food businesses to confirm customers’ desire for single-use items, while allowing local governments the option to choose if they will enforce the law, the same enforcement approach as the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act (PPRA), which Governor Polis signed into law in 2021.

Second, Governor Polis expressed concern that if smaller restaurants that take phone orders forget to ask whether customers want single-use items, customers may be inconvenienced if they do not receive them. SB26-146 would create a consistent expectation, similar to PPRA, through which customers no longer automatically receive single-use bags. SB26-146 would have set a consistent state-level model to drive behavior change for food retailers and customers that would have saved businesses money and reduced unwanted waste for customers. Eco-Cycle will continue to work to find statewide solutions for reducing unwanted plastic waste. 

Worked toward a regenerative, circular, Zero Waste Colorado

In addition to the bills listed above, Eco-Cycle engaged in over a dozen bills this year, including:

• HB26-1132: Practices to Support Pollinators, passed and signed into law

Eco-Cycle staff testified in support of promoting more native pollinator-friendly plants.

• SB26-155: Increase Access Homeowner Insurance Enterprise,  passed and signed into law

Eco-Cycle worked with champions to encourage municipalities to adopt ordinances requiring newly built and replaced roofs to use impact-resistant roofing materials to reduce the tremendous amount of hail-caused waste in our state.

• SB26-016 Prohibit Discharge Preproduction Plastic Materials, passed and signed into law.

Eco-Cycle testified in support of prohibiting the release of plastic pellets and other pre-production plastic materials into the environment (SB26-016).

• HB26-1111: Pesticide Product Disposal & Container Recycling, passed and signed into law

Eco-Cycle testified in support of this program that will protect our land and water and help farmers safely dispose of unused pesticides so that they can recycle the containers.

• SB26-065: Systemic Insecticide Use Limitations, postponed indefinitely in Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources

Though this bill died in committee, we are proud to have supported efforts to reduce the use of neonicotinoid insecticides. We look forward to continuing to engage with the coalition that put this bill forward and with Colorado farmers to build pathways to neonicotinoid insecticides reduction and regenerative agriculture.

Eco-Cycle also supported a handful of bills clarifying Producer Responsibility laws we have helped pass in previous years, so that implementation can continue on schedule.