FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008

CONTACT

Mark W. Salley
Communications Director
303-692-2013

Plastic Processors, Curbside Recycling Companies Eligible for Cash Rebates

DENVER - Through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, recycling rebate funds now are available to certain types of recycling enterprises in Colorado. The rebates are made possible by the Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity Act of 2007, which was adopted by the state legislature in to help increase the economic viability of the state’s waste diversion and recycling businesses.

The following two types of business are eligible for the rebates and are encouraged to apply by Feb. 29, as resources are limited. Eligible businesses include

• refuse processors that prepare (i.e. sort, clean, bale, shred, densify) plastic commodities of any grade for recycling. The definition does not extend to entities that collect only plastics or to secondary handlers, such as re-baling facilities.

• residential trash haulers that voluntarily provide curbside recycling in the absence of local regulatory requirements or subsidies for such collection programs.

The Pollution Prevention Advisory Board’s Assistance Committee, composed of 13 representatives of the state’s recycling community and appointed by Jim Martin, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, was charged with establishing a process to distribute the funds. The group identified two types of business that will be eligible to apply for rebates this year. Future criteria may change as the state gains experience in identifying sectors of the industry that are most in need of financial support.

Additional information and application forms are on the department’s Web site http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/el/p2_program/rebates.html.

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