The Town of Vail’s biannual Hard to Recycle event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 19 at the Ford Park parking lot. The Hard to Recycle event will collect electronic waste and household hazardous waste and will offer paper shredding services. Vinyl event banners, yard waste and household compost will also be accepted this year. The event is free for residents, property owners and those who work in Vail. Charges may apply for excessive volumes. No commercial collections will be accepted. 

Electronics, including computers, printers, televisions, phones, and small appliances, will be recycled with Blue Star Recyclers based in Denver, an E-Steward certified electronic waste recycler. Household hazardous waste, including batteries, paint and paint related products, lawn and garden products like fertilizers and weed killers, household cleaning products, batteries, and motor oil and antifreeze, will be collected by Veolia based in Henderson. Paper will be shredded by Alliance Moving from Gypsum and then recycled at the Eagle County Materials Recovery Facility. Yard waste and household compost will be taken to the Vail Honeywagon Organics commercial compost facility where it will become compost. Vinyl event banners will be taken to Ecological Designs in Boulder where they will be repurposed into reusable bags of all sizes and types.  

The following items will not be accepted at the event: fire detectors, fire extinguishers, tires, biomedical waste, explosives, plastic bags or other soft plastics, large appliances, or anything with refrigerant or freon.    

It is illegal in the State of Colorado to dispose of electronics with regular trash. Hard to Recycle events provide an opportunity for residents and employees of Vail to responsibly dispose of this type of waste free of charge.      

In addition, the town is encouraging residents to get outside and clean up their neighborhoods this spring. Residents can dispose of collected trash in dumpsters provided by the town for this alternative cleanup effort from May 15 - 22 or until they are full, whichever comes first. The dumpsters will be located at the North Trail trailhead parking lot in West Vail at the west end of the North Frontage Road, the Ford Park parking lot and the East Vail interchange parking area at I-70 exit 180. 

The current national recycling rate is 32% while Colorado has a 15.3% recycling rate and Eagle County has a recycling rate of 33%. In 2022 Town of Vail achieved a 35% recycling rate, but still has a way to go to increase diversion of recyclable and organic material to become a zero-waste community. At previous Hard to Recycle events in 2022, Vail was able to recycle over 30 tons of otherwise hard to recycle materials, making a large contribution to the total.  

The event is funded by fees remitted to the town from the “Kick the Bag Habit” program. With the implementation of the statewide Plastic Pollution Reduction Act in 2023, all retailers in Vail are required to charge a 25-cent per bag fee for customers who choose to opt out of reusable bags. Retailers remit 40% of the collected fees to the town, which fund several waste diversion initiatives, including the hard to recycle events and composting programs. 

For additional information contact Beth Markham, Town of Vail Environmental Sustainability Manager at 970-479-2333 or bmarkham@vailgov.com.