The Town of Vail is encouraging residents to get outside and clean up their neighborhoods this spring. Residents can dispose of collected trash and large items in dumpsters provided by the town from April 27 through May 11 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.

Residents are asked not to dispose of electronics, household hazardous waste such as paint or chemicals, or commercial landscaping materials in the dumpsters. Instead, plan to drop items at the Town of Vail’s “Hard to Recycle” event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 8 at the Ford Park parking lot. This will be the only Hard to Recycle event in 2026.

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.

The event will collect electronic waste, lightbulbs and batteries, household hazardous waste, yard and food waste and tires - maximum of four per person - and will offer paper shredding services. The event also will collect vinyl event banners; soft plastics such as plastic bags; white, clean rigid Styrofoam packaging from appliances; and white, clean Styrofoam coolers. Gently used outdoor gear, except for climbing gear and helmets, also will be collected.

Accepted Items:

• Electronics, including computers, printers, televisions, phones, light bulbs, batteries and small appliances will be recycled with Blue Star Recycling based in Denver. Please note, all rechargeable and lithium batteries must be taped on either end with clear tape and sorted separately from other batteries before arrival. Batteries still inside devices and regular alkaline batteries are exempt from taping. All batteries must fit in a single container smaller than 5 gallons.
• Household hazardous waste, including paint and paint related products, lawn and garden products like fertilizers and weed killers, household cleaning products, and motor oil and antifreeze, will be collected by Veolia based in Henderson.
• Tires and scrap metals will be recycled by Trinity out of Gypsum. There is a four-tire maximum.
• 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 upcycled into reusable grocery bags by Ecologic Designs in Boulder.
• Galvanize Recycling from Colorado Springs will collect the soft plastics, white, rigid Styrofoam packing, and gently used outdoor gear excluding climbing gear and helmets.

The following items will not be accepted at the event: fire detectors, fire extinguishers, biomedical waste, explosives, Styrofoam packing peanuts, Styrofoam cups or take-out food containers, large appliances, or anything with refrigerant or freon. There are some exceptions on soft plastics. Visit www.lovevail.org/hard-to-recycle-events for a list of accepted items and event details.

At last year’s Hard to Recycle event, Vail community members shredded more than 4,880 pounds of paper; dropped off nearly 8,100 pounds of paint and chemicals and brought in more than 18,400 pounds of e-waste. Yard waste, tires, soft plastics, Styrofoam and vinyl banners accounted for 8,550 pounds of items collected. At the Hard to Recycle event for 2025, Vail recycled 20 tons of otherwise hard to recycle materials, making a large contribution to the total waste diverted.

The current national recycling rate is 32.1%; it is 30.1% percent in Eagle County. In 2025, the Town of Vail achieved a 34% recycling rate, outperforming the national, county, and state average of 15.7%. While this represents progress, Vail continues to work toward increasing the diversion of recyclable and organic materials to achieve its goal of becoming a zero-waste community.

The May 8 event is funded by fees remitted to the town through 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 fee for single-use bags. Retailers remit 40% of the collected fees to the town, which funds several waste diversion initiatives including hard to recycle events and composting programs. It is illegal in the State of Colorado to dispose of electronics with regular trash.

For more information, contact Environmental Sustainability Program Administrator Hunter Koch at 970-479-2338 or hkoch@vail.gov.