Despite Colorado’s Green Image, People Here Produce A Lot of Trash And Flub Recycling

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Photo: Colorado China Recycling 2 | Alpine Waste Sorters - XMcMahon
Workers look for items that can not be recycled at Alpine Waste and Recycling in Denver on June 19, 2018.

An eye-popping headline was published by The Colorado Sun this week: "Coloradans generate 9.6 pounds of trash per person, per day. Where does it all go?" Not only that, only about two pounds of that is recycled.

In fact, despite the state's green image, Colorado's recycling rate is well below the national average: 19 percent here compared to 34 percent nationally. That may be due to the lack of a recycling network across the state, especially in rural Colorado.

The Colorado Sun editor Larry Ryckman and reporter Jennifer Brown talked to Colorado Matters about the reporting that went into the series, as well as the overall goal of the news startup created by former Denver Post staffers.