Garbage, Recycling, Compost and Yard Waste Services

The Town moved from a flat fee to a volume-based model where what you pay for service depends on which garbage cart size you select for your household; any size recycling cart and compost cart are included in the cost.  

You can have different cart sizes for each stream if you wish. You can swap cart sizes for free three times per year to find the best service level for your household. 

Below are the per month prices for garbage, recycling and compost service. Any size (35, 65 or 96 gallon) recycle or compost cart is included in the cost. 

Additional carts can be added $7 per month for each additional garbage, recycle or organics cart. Residents must already be subscribed to the 95-gallon size of that waste stream to receive an additional cart. 

Bulk item pick-up service is available $25 to $35 per item, depending on the item. Contact Republic Services at 303-286-0800 for more information and to schedule.

The service day with Republic will be on Monday for all neighborhoods on the Three Cart Program.

See the Republic service calendar(PDF, 678KB) for more details on holidays and pickup materials by week.  

New rates with Republic Services will be on the May 11 billing cycle for service that started 3/31 since the Town bills a month in arrears. The waste service cost will be on each Town customer's utility bill along with the cost for water service.

More information on billing can be found on the Utility Billing page.

You do not need to have a recycling and/or compost cart and can choose not to have either or both if you so choose, though it will not change the cost of service. Customers are encouraged to have a recycling and compost cart in addition to a garbage cart, which will allow them to reduce their garbage cart size and save money.

Customers pay for waste collection service based on their selected garbage cart size; any size recycling and compost cart is included in that cost and there is no cost savings for not having a recycling or compost cart. You can call Republic at 720-760-0849 to schedule a bin removal or opt-out.

• See Republic's mailer(PDF, 2MB) for more information on sizes, costs and who to contact for cart choices.

If a resident does not pick their cart sizes by the Feb. 15 deadline, they will receive the following carts: 65-gallon trash, 95-gallon recycling and 35-gallon compost.

No cart changes will be allowed after the deadline until May 1, 2025, to allow each resident to receive carts and service to begin. After service begins, Republic customers can switch cart sizes up to three times per year for free to find the right service level for their household.

The Town’s utility enterprises, as a matter of policy, do not allow individual residents to opt-out of specific fees. Each utility is supported directly by collective fees spread across all Town customers and these fees cannot be individualized on a per residence level. This includes not allowing vacation or seasonal “holds” since each utility service is provided to all residences on a consistent basis and is not scalable to allow customers to opt-in or out.

Implementing a volume-based pricing structure can effectively incentivize residents to minimize waste and participate actively in recycling and compost programs. This approach is paired with the flexibility of offering residents the ability to adjust trash, recycle and compost cart sizes based on their needs. Volume-based pricing provides a financial incentive for residents minimize waste and better represents the true cost of waste disposal. This common regional approach to waste pricing encourages residents to recycle and compost, where items are made into valuable new products after disposal, rather than taking up space in a landfill.

Composting supports our Town climate and waste goals and provides environmental benefits, including creating healthy soils. The average US household can have a significant impact on the environment by diverting even just food scraps alone from landfill to composting. In the best-case scenario, where every food scrap is composted, a household's composting could offset nearly the equivalent of its annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from driving or home energy use. By composting, four households could effectively remove a car from the roads. Eight households composting food scraps could offset an average home's electricity use per year. Read more about the computed impact of compost on the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment website. There are lots of additional benefits to composting, including creating healthy soils and the ability to grow healthier food. Eco-Cycle provides a good recap of some of those benefits.

The Town Board approved the contract with Republic Services at the Oct. 28, 2024 Town Board meeting.

The Town contracts through a third-party vendor to provide waste collection service to approximately 1,000 homes in Superior and has since 2008. Since the Town’s initial agreement, formal proposals for service were solicited in 2011, 2015 and 2020 in accordance with the Town’s purchasing policy. With the latest agreement set to expire at the end of 2024, staff solicited community engagement, worked with Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES) and presented to the Town Board on the topic throughout 2024.

The Board discussed this topic during a Joint Work Session with the Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES) in June 2024 and in August during a regular Board meeting with ACES and staff to review research and recommendations for providing this service starting, including scope of service elements for this agreement, resident feedback regarding current services, and potential service changes. Per Board direction on the final scope of services, staff coordinated the RFP process and the Board reviewed the RFP bid tabulation during the September 16 Work Session. Based on Board feedback, the agreement was finalized in October 2024.