In 2025, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approved Circular Action Alliance’s program plan, marking a major step toward free, convenient recycling for every Colorado household.
Under their oversight, this industry-funded and industry-run program shifts the cost of recycling from residents and local governments to the companies that produce and sell packaging. Additionally, it creates incentives for companies to design packaging that is more recyclable and reusable.
In 2022, Governor Polis signed the Producer Responsibility Program for Statewide Recycling Act into law, which directed CDPHE to establish a program requiring companies that sell packaging and paper products to fund a statewide recycling system for those materials. These companies formed an independent non-profit organization, called a Producer Responsibility Organization, to coordinate, fund, and manage this statewide recycling system. CDPHE appointed Circular Action Alliance as the designated Producer Responsibility Organization in May 2023.
