Grant Summaries

City of Alamosa 

• Project Title: New Recycling Baler

• Date Awarded: 12/16/2025

• Category: Recycling

• Amount Awarded: $174,000

• Timeframe: 18 months

• Area of State and Counties: City of Alamosa, San Luis Valley

This project promotes the circular economy through the purchase of a new baler to process recyclable materials collected at the Alamosa Recycling Center. The recycling center is the only free recycling facility in the San Luis Valley, an 8,000-square-mile, six-county region with a population of approximately 50,000. The purchase of the new baler will ensure continued access and increased capacity to recycling services in the region.

Purchases: Baler and installation costs

Town of Silverton 

• Project Title: Silverton/San Juan Transfer Station Upgrades

• Date Awarded: 08/14/2025

• Category: Collection/Hauling, Community Engagement/Outreach/Education, Recycling

• Amount Awarded: $74,734.99

• Timeframe: 24 months

• Region: Town of Silverton, San Juan County

This project supports increasing and improving waste diversion efforts at the Silverton/San Juan transfer station. The Town of Silverton is a remote mountain community. Limited accessibility, especially during severe weather, and an influx of tourists during summer months present unique challenges for waste diversion efforts. Silverton currently offers single stream and hard-to-recycle material recycling but does not have oversight from a dedicated staff member to manage the transfer station. This leads to illegal dumping, unbilled payments, and contamination. Grant funding will support a part-time position to manage materials in addition to funding critical improvements to increase resource recovery, reduce waste, support financial accountability, and promote community awareness.

Purchases: Internet infrastructure, security cameras, recycling containers, storage shed, pickup truck, Point of Sale (POS) system, portable tablet, waste manager salary

r.World

• Project Title: Enabling Reuse at Scale Through Wash Cycle Automation

• Date Awarded: 6/30/2025

• Category: Reuse

• Amount Awarded: $250,000

• Timeframe: 18 months

• Area of State and Counties: Front Range 

This project focuses on decreasing single-use item waste across sports stadiums, music and entertainment venues, festivals, and convention centers throughout Colorado. r.World is a reuse company that supports the circular economy through durable, reusable cups and containers paired with the logistics required to make reuse practical at large venues. Guests interact with r.World products in the same manner as disposable items, then return them to clearly marked collection bins at each site. The company retrieves the used wares, transports them to centralized facilities for washing, sanitizing, quality control, and repackaging, then prepares them for reuse. Grant funding will address current operational challenges within the cup-washing system, where capacity and cost limitations slow expansion. Investment in a rackless conveyor dishwasher will automate and combine several processing steps into one streamlined operation, allowing r.World to expand its reuse services more efficiently and support long-term growth across the Front Range.

Purchases: High capacity dishwasher

Resource Central 

• Project Title: Increasing Reuse and Reducing Waste Through Community Outreach for All

• Date Awarded: 8/20/2025

• Category: Community Engagement and Outreach

• Amount Awarded: $154,720.34 

• Timeframe: 18 months

• Region: Boulder County 

This project focuses on expanding conservation and reuse opportunities for communities that have been historically underrepresented. Resource Central is a nonprofit organization committed to making conservation accessible, engaging thousands of households each year in programs that reduce waste, save water, and conserve energy. Grant funding will strengthen reuse participation through several initiatives, including a no-questions-asked, needs-based discount program offering a 50% reduction on building materials for repairs and home improvements to low-income and underrepresented residents. The engagement program is expected to reach approximately 10,000 individuals.

Purchases: Outreach coordinator personal services, multilingual print materials, outreach event promotional materials, branded pop-up tent, folding tables, folding chairs, branded table skirts, event booth display, custom outdoor message board, Apple MacBook Pro, website translation service, document and signage translation services, social media promotions for outreach events, needs-based discounted building materials, tabling fees for outreach events

Vindeket Foods

• Project Title: Root Bound Build Out: Phase 3

• Date Awarded: 7/2/2025

• Category: Food Rescue and Recovery 

• Amount Awarded: $187,257

• Timeframe: 18 months 

• Region: Larimer County and Weld counties

This project reduces food waste in Colorado while diverting surplus food from landfills and redistributing it to community members in Larimer and Weld counties. Grant funding will support essential infrastructure and staffing for Vindeket Foods, allowing for expanded operating hours, increased food storage capacity, and increased community outreach. These improvements will enhance the organization’s ability to recover and distribute nutritious food while supporting environmental sustainability and community well-being.

Purchases: Walk-in display freezer, cardboard baler, walk-in-display cooler, executive director salary, operations manager salary, part-time staff wages, fringe benefits for full-time staff, utilities, truck maintenance and repairs, truck fuel

Green Girl Recycling

• Project Title: Peaks to Pavement: Expanding Mountain Recycling with a New Chassis

• Date Awarded: 5/12/2025

• Category: Recycling

• Amount Awarded: $75,877

• Timeframe: 6 months

• Region: Boulder County, Larimer County

Grant funds will support the purchase of a new, fuel efficient truck, which will allow Green Girl Recycling to double outreach and divert an additional 190 tons of residential and 225 tons of commercial recycling within hard-to-reach mountain communities.

Purchases: Truck