Dolores Advances Curbside Trash Service, Free Recycling for Residents

The Dolores Town Board advanced a proposal on December 9 to contract with Cortez for curbside trash and separated recycling service, directing staff to draft a formal agreement for approval by both local governments in early 2026. Under the proposed contract Cortez would provide weekly trash pickup and separated recycling for mixed cardboard, plastics No. 1 and No. 2, aluminum and tin and steel metals for thirty one dollars and fifteen cents per household each month. Glass would not be accepted. The rate is two dollars higher than Cortez standard residential service, and it matches the amount officials outlined in an October proposal.

Residents who want the service must call Cortez to enroll, request a trash bin and a recycling container, and cancel their current trash service next year. Town officials said recyclables must be sorted into paper bags by category and cleaned. So far sixty eight households and some businesses have signed up, Town Manager Leigh Reeves said. The town initially sought more than one hundred households but the minimum is no longer required, Reeves said. Reeves added, "No one’s obligated. If you don’t want curbside recycling, you can still go with Countryside, Bruin Waste Management, whoever you want, but you’re not going to necessarily get recycling from them."

The board’s decision follows the impending removal after December of Four Corners Recycling Initiative drop off bins on 12th Street. The nonprofit is ending the service because state payments moved from tonnage based funding for drop off sites to a program that pays haulers directly, making the nonprofit operation unnecessary. Four Corners Recycling Initiative Board President Casey Simpson said, "That’s OK, because Four Corners Recycling was an initiative to really build out both the availability and culture of recycling in the Four Corners Region." The initiative has diverted more than two thousand one hundred eighty five and a half tons of material from landfills since its start and plans to donate its bins to partner entities.

The town ordinance requires Cortez to supply locks that are bear resistant for trash containers, a provision local officials emphasized after a statewide spike in human bear encounters in 2025 linked to drought and poor natural food availability. Sheriff Steve Nowlin said he believes the last bear frequenting the north end of town has settled into hibernation. The board’s action shapes local waste management options, shifts where recycling will be collected, and leaves residents deciding whether to enroll with Cortez or continue other haulers that may not offer recycling.