Fort Collins City Council recently adopted a contract for residential trash and recycling collection. The City of Fort Collins will contract with Republic Services to provide trash, recycling, yard trimmings, and bulky items collection for all residential dwellings with seven or fewer units within Fort Collins City limits (including single-unit homes, townhomes, duplexes, mobile home communities and small apartment complexes or condos of up to seven units that use carts). 

Homeowners Associations (HOAs) with current written contracts for trash and recycling service that were signed and in effect by April 28, 2023, may apply for an exemption from the City's contract or may join the City's contract. Applications must be submitted by 12/31/2023 to be considered for an exemption.

Service Requirements 

• Pricing for service is based on the size of the trash cart
• Three sizes of trash carts must be offered: small, medium, large options*
• 100% price difference between sizes of trash cart (e.g. $1x for small, $2x for medium, $3x for large)
• Extra waste (including when a cart lid can’t close fully) must be charged proportional to the standard rate for a small capacity container**
• Every other week collection of recycling included for no additional cost
• Up to two large recycling carts included
• If recycling is collected in an 18-gallon tubs, recycling must be collected weekly
• Residents can opt in to weekly yard trimmings collection from Apr 1 – Nov 30 for a separate fee
• As of 9/30/24, yard trimmings must be included in all residents’ service (and must not be a separate line item on bills) unless the resident declines service  

HOA Requirements 

• Arrange for services that comply with service requirements (above)
• Provide written notice*** to residents in the HOA
• Keep a copy of the written notice, a list of recipients of the notice, and a record of the date and manner of distribution of the notice for five years after the notice provided
• Allow households to each select from any of the trash cart sizes; HOA may not encourage/discourage the selection of any particular size. 

Hauler Requirements

• Distribute the written notice to all customers (including HOA residents)
  • If HOA will distribute the notice to its residents, the hauler must clearly notify the HOA representative of this obligation
• Contracts with HOAs must be in writing
  • To be eligible for exemption from the City’s contract, the contract must be executed by 4/28/23
• May charge a service surcharge of up to 25% of the cost of the small trash cart service cost; may not charge any other fees

Written Notice Requirements:

• Must include that recycling service is included in service, the range of recycling containers available, any rules for collection set by the hauler, the trash container sizes available and related prices, that optional yard trimmings collection is available and the related service price
• Must include recycling guidelines / educational material that is provided by the City of Fort Collins
• Can be distributed to HOA residents by the hauler or by the HOA management
• Must be sent at the following times:
  • Once per year on an ongoing basis
  • Within 10 days of a resident joining the HOA
  • Within 30 days of the HOA receiving updated rates for service

This is a summary. Full requirements can be found in Chapter 12 and Chapter 15 of the Municipal Code.

* small = 30-39 gallons, medium = 60-69 gallons, large = 90-99 gallons

** for example, a customer who placed out an extra 32-gallon bag of solid waste would be charged ¼ the monthly rate for the small capacity container service as the bag would be equivalent to the amount of small capacity container service volume provided per week

Download Printable Requirements