Denver, CO · URCO Now in Effect

Denver Composting Services

For businesses, restaurants, and multifamily properties — understand your requirements, right-size your service, and keep food waste out of the landfill.

GET A QUOTEGET A QUOTE
Break It Down “We Compost” logo

WRITTEN BY LAYEL CAMARGO-VELASQUEZ · 12 MIN READ

If you landed here, you probably run a business, manage a multifamily property, organize events, or just found out Denver has new composting requirements and thought, “Wait — what exactly am I supposed to do?”

Good news: you’re in the right place.

Break It Down Colorado helps Denver businesses, restaurants, multifamily properties, and qualifying events understand their requirements, choose the right composting service, train their communities, and keep food waste out of the landfill.

Break It Down team member servicing a green compost cart on a Denver pickup route

— THE ORDINANCE —

What is Denver’s Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance?

Denver’s Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance — URCO — went into effect on September 1, 2026. Approved by roughly 70% of Denver voters through the Waste No More ballot initiative, it expands recycling and composting access across the city.

Requirements vary by property type:

01

Multifamily properties with 8+ units

Recycling and composting

02

Licensed food businesses

Recycling and back-of-house composting

03

Non-residential buildings

Recycling; composting optional unless a covered food-waste producer

04

Qualifying permitted events

Recycling and composting

Not sure where you fall? We can help you determine which requirements apply. Call 720.585.3475.

Combination lock on a limited-access compost cart that helps prevent contamination

The Basics

What is a commercial composting service?

Compost is the nutrient-rich material created when food scraps and other organics break down under managed conditions. A commercial composting service collects those food scraps and transports them to a processing facility, where they become compost instead of landfill.

Technically, we provide food-waste collection that helps produce compost. But “commercial food-waste collection and transportation for organics processing” doesn’t roll off the tongue — so composting service it is.

58%

WHY IT MATTERS

Food waste buried in a landfill breaks down without oxygen, generating methane. Per the U.S. EPA, wasted food accounts for an estimated 58% of fugitive methane emissions from municipal solid-waste landfills.

Separating food scraps cuts methane, conserves landfill space, and returns nutrients to the soil.

We think of everything so you don’t have to.

Covered parties

Who must compost in Denver?

Requirements depend on what kind of property or organization you run. Here’s who URCO covers — and what it asks of them.

01

Multifamily Properties

Most properties with 8 or more units must provide recycling and composting for tenants, residents, employees, and contractors — apartments, condos, manufactured-home communities, co-ops, and congregate-living included. The responsible party may be the owner, HOA, or property manager.

02

Restaurants & Food Businesses

Licensed food businesses provide recycling for all, composting for staff, compost containers in production, prep, and dishwashing areas, labeled bins with signage, and staff education. Back-of-house composting is required — no compost quiz with dessert, but your kitchen needs a workable system.

03

Offices & Other Buildings

Most non-residential buildings must provide recycling for tenants, employees, and contractors. Composting is generally optional for an ordinary office — unless the property is also a covered food-waste producer or falls into another regulated category.

04

Permitted Events

Qualifying permitted events must provide recycling and composting. Requirements can depend on attendance, location, and permit type. Confirm yours while you’re planning the event — not the morning the first compostable plate hits the ground.

Compliance

What does a compliant composting program require?

Ordering a green bin matters, but compliance usually takes more than parking one behind the building and hoping. Depending on the property, a compliant program may include:

Ordering a green bin matters, but compliance usually takes more than parking one behind the building and hoping. Depending on the property, a compliant program may include:

  • Adequate recycling and composting capacity

  • Signs showing accepted and prohibited materials

  • Tenant or resident education

  • A current Waste Diversion Plan

  • Properly placed, clearly labeled containers

  • Information in English and Spanish

  • Employee and contractor training, with records

  • Service from a properly licensed hauler

Break It Down helps you turn those requirements into a system that actually works — not one that only looks good in a binder.

Sizing

How much composting capacity do I need?

For covered multifamily properties, Denver generally requires weekly composting capacity equal to at least 10% of the property’s total weekly capacity across trash, recycling, and composting. Weekly capacity accounts for container size, number of containers, collection frequency, and any compaction ratios.

Quick example

A property with 12 cubic yards of combined weekly trash and recycling capacity would need roughly 1.34 cubic yards — about 269 gallons — of weekly composting capacity. More frequent pickups can add weekly capacity without adding carts onsite.

If that math made you want to quietly close this tab, don’t. We’ll review your current service and help calculate an appropriate setup. You can also check the City of Denver’s capacity calculator.

Green 64-gallon compost cart at a Denver multifamily property
Food scraps and produce diverted into the compost stream

Right Sizing Program

What if I don’t have space for more bins?

Space is one of the most common challenges at apartment buildings, restaurants, and properties with small enclosures. Break It Down’s Right Sizing Program evaluates your existing trash and recycling service, required weekly capacity, available space, estimated food-waste volume, container sizes, and pickup frequency — then recommends a setup that keeps you compliant without filling the property with carts you’ll never fill.

We’ll bring bin samples that fit your storage. Where it makes sense, we may offer reserved-capacity options of up to four cubic yards, additional pickups, or a container upgrade as your needs change. Enough capacity to run your program — not a small army of nearly empty bins.

Questions? Email us.

Clean bin swaps

We wash bins.
We swap bins. At no extra cost to you.

At each scheduled service, we remove the used container and replace it with a clean one — the approach we’ve used across 17 years of compost service. Pulling the whole container keeps food residue from building week after week, and keeps the system cleaner for kitchens and multifamily properties. No maggots hitching a ride every time someone dumps food waste.

Keep lids closed and follow the sorting instructions, and you’re set. Want laminated sorting guides onsite? We’ll print yours for a small fee.

Green compost cart with a secured lock at a Denver property

Paperwork Handled

Can Break It Down help with my Waste Diversion Plan?

Yes. Covered properties and food businesses must create and maintain a Waste Diversion Plan documenting how they meet URCO. We have templates — email sales@breakitdowncolorado.com.

We help you document composting services, calculate service capacity, gather hauler and container information, document signage and education, prepare supporting service records, and organize everything the City’s plan needs. Your legally responsible party may still need to review, authorize, or submit the plan through Denver’s permitting and licensing system.

We’ve supported businesses with waste-diversion documentation for more than a decade. The paperwork may be new to you — it isn’t new to us.

Bilingual What to Compost sign listing accepted and prohibited materials in English and Spanish

Education

How do I teach tenants and employees to compost?

People arrive with different levels of composting knowledge. Some have composted for years. Others sincerely believe anything labeled “natural” belongs in the green bin.

Break It Down offers workshops and materials in English and Spanish covering what can be composted, what must stay out, where containers are located, how to prevent contamination, and why food-waste diversion matters. Repeat the training when new tenants or employees arrive, and when a service change affects sorting.

Get started

Get help with Denver’s composting requirements

Not sure whether URCO applies to your property? Stuck on the capacity math? Trying to figure out where another bin could possibly fit? Break It Down Colorado will review your property, current waste service, available space, and expected food-waste volume — then recommend a composting program built around your actual needs.

For official requirements, forms, exemptions, and updates, visit the City and County of Denver’s URCO page. This page provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Requirements may vary by property type, license, operations, permits, exemptions, and future City guidance.

— FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS —

Got questions?

It depends on your property type. Under URCO, multifamily properties with 8 or more units and licensed food businesses must provide composting; most offices must provide recycling, with composting required only if they’re a covered food-waste producer. Not sure where you fall? Call 720-585-3475 and we’ll help you confirm

Denver’s Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance (URCO) went into effect on September 1, 2026, after roughly 70% of voters approved the Waste No More initiative.

For covered multifamily properties, Denver generally requires weekly composting capacity equal to at least 10% of your total weekly trash, recycling, and composting capacity. We’ll review your current service and calculate the right setup — more frequent pickups can add capacity without adding carts.

Generally no — customer-facing compost bins aren’t typically required. But licensed food businesses must provide back-of-house composting in food-production, prep, and dishwashing areas, with labeled containers and staff training.

Our Right Sizing Program matches service to your actual space and food-waste volume, so you stay compliant without overcrowding your enclosure. We bring bin samples that fit your storage and can offer reserved-capacity options, extra pickups, or a container upgrade as needs change.

At every scheduled service we remove the used container and replace it with a clean one, at no extra cost. Pulling the whole bin keeps residue from building up week to week. Keep lids closed and follow the sorting guidance and you’re set.

Yes. We provide templates and help you document services, calculate capacity, gather hauler and container details, and organize what the City’s plan requires. Your legally responsible party may still need to review and submit it through Denver’s system. Email sales@breakitdowncolorado.com.

We monitor material quality and reach out when we find contamination. We may recommend added signage, education, different container placement, or limited access. Accepted materials can vary by processing facility, so always follow the current sorting guidance for your service.

Yes. Our Right Sizing Program recommends service based on your property’s actual needs instead of forcing every building into the same package. Properties with 8 or more units may be covered by URCO; smaller properties can choose composting voluntarily.

Break It Down brings 17 years of compost-service experience to its Colorado operations — experience that taught us successful composting isn’t just dropping off a bin. It takes responsive service, smart container placement, practical education, and a system that fits the people using it.

Commercial composting service in Denver with Break it Down starts at $125 a month. That covers weekly pickup with a clean bin swap at every visit. Your price depends on how many bins you need and how many sites we serve, and we size it with you at a site assessment.