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 ABOUT US

 

2022- 2024

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The FFA High School students, under the instruction of Eddie Crispe repaired and painted the 13 Custer County
Recycles used drop-off collection trailers blue in preparation for mural painting. The Trailer Art Project (TAP) is an all

volunteer effort with paint and supplies funded by the
Robert Hoag Rawlings Foundation and the Wet Mountain Valley Rotary Club. 

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Local donations made thru the Wet Mountain Valley Community Foundation in late 2023 to HCR made it possible

for glass  recycling to return to the Valley in Feb 2024 thru a partnership with Altitude Community Fitness. 

 The community response for glass recycling has been fantastic and will be an ongoing funding raising effort. 

Two dozen plus volunteers provide sorting, baling, education and trailer hauling to and from the recycling drop-off sites on a
weekly basis at the Joanie Liebman Recycling Center located at the Landfill.  

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Volunteers schedule, deliver and  pick up for return the 55  gallon blue recycling collection barrels for any and all  community
public  events.  This service is available for no cost at this time.  

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2020  - 2022

 Custer County Recycles received a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity   (CDPHE RREO)  grant award and constructed a material recovery facility (MRF) located at the County Landfill for

drop off of multiple recyclables. The award also covered the purchase of a horizontal baler with conveyor, and provided for the creation of a 2nd and new Custer  County part-time recycling position.  Operations began the summer of 2022.

 

Initiated the creation of  Custer County Recycles through a  new partnership comprised of Joanie Liebman and Steve Tappe, HCR; 

Tom Flower, Custer County Commissioner; Wilson Jarvis, Custer County  Economic Development;  Brian Lockhart, CC Landfill;

Steve Lasswell, Sustainable Ways and Mike Liebman, Wet Mountain Valley Rotary. 

 

 Partnered with Dundee Memorial Dog Park to maintain a local aluminum/steel can recycling drop off collection when all but cardboard and plastic recycling shut down in our four county area. Purchased a couple of two horse trailers to be used for drop off collection and located them behind the Dundee Dog Park expanding their Cans for Canines project.  This was the birth of HCR's all volunteer and temporary Check'em, Sort'em & Bag'em  project that also included  volunteers hauling them to a metal scrapper in nearby in Penrose.  All the proceeds were given to the park.

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2010 - 2022

Volunteers sorted and baled cardboard two to three days a week, every week,for 12  years

at the Custer County Waste Minimization and Recycling Facility at the Landfill.

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2012 - 2023

Partnered with Roots Recycle, Pueblo CO and Altitude Community Fitness to initiate and support 24/7 plastic recycling drop-off in HCR's metal shed placed in the fitness center's parking lot. Roots Recycle's increasing costs and plastic recycling complications made this service unsustainable and was shut down. HCR  donated the metal shed to Altitude Community Fitness.

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2012 - 2020

   Hosted an annual Mobile Record Shredder community wide event which shut down due to the COVID pandemic.

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2009 - 2010

 Secured  a dozen 50 gallon barrels to be used as recycling collection containers at no cost for public and private events.  

 4-H youth refurbished, designed and painted the barrels with supplies, tools and artists provided by HCR and Sangre's Art Guild. 
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 Joined in partnership with Veltri Disposal Services, now Oak Disposal Services in Westcliffe, and was awarded  a grant to purchase

a used vertical cardboard baler and began a HCR volunteer operated local cardboard recycling at their facility.

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  Partnered with Custer County and received a grant award from CDPHE RREO to construct the

Custer County Waste Minimization and Recycling Facility at the county landfill to provide  corrugated cardboard drop off collection

 and baling. Volunteers created 3 tiers of baled cardboard and a top tier of baled plastic as insulated walls between the buildings

steel frames  and then stuccoed the exterior and put up sheet rock for the interior walls. The grant also provided for

 the installation of solar panels to provide at the time non existent electric power and to hire Custer County's  first

recycling employee. The used vertical baler was donated to the county and moved into the new facility.

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2007
Partnered with  Custer County  Bobcats 5th grade students who initiated a district wide weekly paper recycling collection program.  

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Began first time  plastic recycling on a once a month basis  in partnership with Altitude Community Fitness Center

then known as Club America located in Silver Cliff.

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