GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — Monday marked the third and final subcommittee meeting looking into a public/private partnership to build a Materials Recovery Facility, or MRF.
Three companies were given twenty minutes to pitch their partnership plan to subcommittee members Anna Stout, Scott Beilfuss, and Dennis Simpson.
Grand Junction General Services Director Jay Valentine tells WesternSlopeNow the order at which each company presented was random. Bruin Waste "most closely aligns with that objective, and so that's the proposal that we'll take to council."
CEO Jeff Kendall tells WesternSlopeNow Bruin Waste has seven different sites across the Western Slope with headquarters near Montrose.
He agrees with the city that a regional MRF would be the best use of money. Kendall also says the facility "will be open access for every hauler on the Western Slope."
If City Council approves it, the MRF will take roughly 12 to 18 months to go live.
A study done by LBA Associates in 2023 stated a regional MRF would cost over $30 million, but Council Member Anna Stout says that could be millions less because of some new legislation.
On June 3, 2022, Gov. Polis signed into law House Bill 22-1355, a bill requiring companies that sell products in packaging to fund a statewide recycling system.
This law goes into effect in 2026 and is expected to produce $300 million a year in recycling funds, according to Council Member Scott Beilfuss.
Stout says the specifics of financial modeling will be determined at the next full council meeting on Dec. 18.