ECOrtez is a curb-side recycling program that the City initiated in
July 1991. The City program collects glass, newspapers, and aluminum
beverage cans. The ECOrtez program consists of weekly curbside
collection service and a drop-off station.
How ECOrtez Works
A 22-gallon green recycling bin is utilized by one and two-family
dwellings. The bin is designed to hold three grocery bags full of
recyclables. These bins will remain the property of the City of Cortez
and will be assigned to each address. Please set a good example for your
neighbors by not using the bin for anything other than recycling.
If you move, please leave the bin at your
present address. If you do not intend to use the bin provided, contact
the Public Works Department at 565-7320, ext 3352, and arrangements will
be made to have the bin picked up.
It’s easy to recycle…all you do is separate and store your
recyclables in grocery bags within the bin provided, and put the bin out
by the curb in front of your property on the same day your garbage is picked up.
Please have the bin out by 7:00 a.m. If your trash is normally picked up
in the alley, the bin must still be placed by the curb in front of your property. If
you generate more recyclable material than your bin can hold, please
continue to separate your recyclables into grocery bags and place them
next to your bin on pick-up days. The paper bags will be left for you to
reuse.
Drop-off Station
As part of the City’s recycling program, a drop-off station is
provided for those who do not have the chance to participate in the
City’s curbside pick-up program or live outside the City limits. The
drop-off station has five
dumpsters, each labeled for one of the items to be collected.
Accompanying the dumpsters will be a green sign stating which materials
are acceptable and which ones are not. The drop-off station is located
at the southwest corner of Empire and Mildred, in the City/County Court
Justice Building Parking Lot.
See Map
Holiday Pick-Ups
Your recyclables will not be picked up on holidays, but will be
picked up on the following working day. Residents will be notified of
changes by our local newspaper, or by public radio announcements.
PREPARATION OF RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
Help the City keep the cost of recycling down by using the following
guidelines to separate your recyclable materials. You are providing the
raw material for a manufacturing process. Because of this, the material
we sell to processors must conform to very specific guidelines and be
free from contamination. Failure to meet these guidelines may result in
the rejection of entire loads. Please help ECOrtez by learning the
guidelines and recycle properly.
ITEMS TO RECYCLE
- NEWSPAPER
- We accept the newspaper and all its supplements. Do not include:
magazines, catalogues, phone books, junk mail, or any other paper
material.
-
- GLASS
- We accept clean bottles and jars. Please remove lids and all
Styrofoam type labels. Do not include window glass, ceramics, pyrex,
light bulbs, drinking glasses, or any other glass. There is a
dumpster for brown glass only. Please separate it from all other
glass.
-
- ALUMINUM
- We accept aluminum beverage cans only. Do not include aluminum
foil or pans. We do not recycle tin cans. Please do not put them in
this bin.
-
- CARDBOARD
- For large quantities of cardboard, please contact the Recycling
Coordinator at the City Service Center, or call 970.565.7320
extension 352.
The
Recycling Program Does Not Take Tin Cans, Plastic Bottles, or Dog or Cat
Food Cans.
The City Does Not Collect Yard Waste (i.e. Leaves, Branches,
Mulch or Compost) From Individuals For Recycling.
If foil, scraps, tin cans, magazines, junk mail, or trash in
general are placed in the bin, the material will be left for you to
dispose of. Also, the City does not recycle plastic of any kind.
What happens to
all this stuff?
The newspaper and cardboard are baled
and trucked to Snowflake, Arizona, via a local trucking company. The
mixed glass and the brown glass is hauled
to the Durango Recycling Center by City of Cortez Employees. The aluminum is taken to Belt Salvage. The mulch
from trees pruned by city employees is currently being taken to the golf course and turned into “super
soil.”
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