Colorado’s plan to offer free statewide recycling could be in the dumps after a national trade association sued the state Thursday over how the plan is managed and funded.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance, acting on behalf of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, sued Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, over the state’s new free, curbside recycling plan, which was approved in December and is expected to bring free recycling to more than 700,000 homes and businesses by 2035.
The distributors are asking a U.S. District Court judge in Denver for a preliminary injunction that would prevent Colorado from moving forward with the program while the case is litigated.
The recycling plan — known as the Producer Responsibility Program — will be funded by fees collected from the companies that create packaging for products such as soft drinks, egg cartons, soup cans and home-delivery boxes. Homeowners and local governments would not bear the cost of picking up and transporting recyclable materials to waste companies once the program is operational.
The first round of fees was due on June 1, and the first curbside recycling programs should be rolled out later this year or in early 2027.
The fees are established by the Circular Action Alliance, which is made up of representatives from companies that create packaging, including Amazon, Coca-Cola, General Mills and The Campbell’s Company.
However, attorneys for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonprofit that often sues local, state and federal government over public policy and leans conservative, argued in the complaint that the Circular Action Alliance is controlled by industry giants that compete with smaller businesses to distribute products ranging from groceries to household goods.
The Producer Responsibility Program requires those small businesses to become dues-paying members of the Circular Action Alliance and to forfeit their rights to challenge the alliance’s decisions in court, the lawsuit notes.
Colorado’s law allows the Circular Action Alliance to prohibit companies from showing the recycling fees they must pay on bills so customers cannot see the actual cost of the program and who is paying for it, the lawsuit alleges. The recycling alliance also hides its methods for determining the fees, the lawsuit said.
The attorneys cited violations of the First and Fourteenth amendments as the basis for the lawsuit, and the distributors’ association is asking a judge to stop Colorado’s program.
A similar lawsuit was filed in March by the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association, another national trade group.
“The program, as currently structured and enforced by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, unlawfully forces many lubricant producers to pay fees to private organizations that are not accountable to the state government or to the companies required to participate,” a trade association news release said.
The lawsuit also criticized the fee structure, stating that there is no clear connection to the real cost of operating recycling programs in Colorado and no transparency over how they are calculated. The group is challenging a provision in Colorado’s law that bars companies from disclosing the costs of the program to their customers.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment sent a statement Friday morning saying it does not comment on pending litigation, but spokeswoman Lauren Whitney added, “We remain committed to reducing waste, conserving natural resources and supporting a cleaner, healthier Colorado for everyone.”
The Circular Action Alliance manages similar recycling programs in five other states, including California, Oregon and Washington.
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