County receives grant for a scale at landfill

Original Article By Cameron Barnard for the Leadville Herald Democrat

August 27th, 2026

Lake County was awarded a $300,000 grant from Colorado Circular Communities on Aug. 13 for improvements at the Lake County Landfill/Recycling Center. The money will be used to purchase a scale to weigh trash loads, a forklift scale and more storage for increased recycling, Lake County Commissioner Andy Lee said at a Board of County Commissioners meeting.

Cloud City Conservation Center (C4) helped facilitate the grant as the county’s sustainability coordinator, Emily Olsen, C4 executive director, said.

Lake County was the only county in the state without a scale for measuring trash loads being dropped off, Robin Ekau-Moody, Lake County Landfill and Recycling foreman, said. Without the scale, landfill workers make estimates on the amount of trash being dropped off. 

“That will help the residents a lot, knowing that when they get on that scale, that's exactly how much it is,” Ekau-Moody said.

Without the scale, the landfill is missing an estimated $136,000 a year, Ekau-Moody said.

A forklift scale will also be purchased as part of the grant to help with the recycling operations at the landfill. Since the landfill funds itself, it relies on selling recycling commodities as a revenue stream. The forklift scale would help in measuring how much recycling they are sending out.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the landfill reworked its recycling system. Ekau-Moody said she noticed they were often being charged for recycling sent out rather than being paid.

“How can we make it clean?” Ekau-Moody said. “Before, when our cardboard, paper, plastics would go to waste management, we would end up paying them between $2,100 a truckload for them to take it to the trash… I did my research, found out what would be beneficial for the landfill, for the recycling program, and what would be a good turnaround as far as funds go.”

Some of the changes included combining the paper and cardboard they sent out and limiting accepted plastics to types one and two. They also became more stringent in their hand sorting to make sure that the commodities were clean.

The recycling operation has become more critical as the landfill reaches capacity. In March, discussions began on adding a new landfill cell, the Herald Democrat previously reported. New regulations require the new cell be lined to prevent seepage into the ground and water table, bringing the cost estimate to about $3.6 million.

Current space is expected to last about seven years, but trash volume is increasing, Ekau-Moody said. Based on drop-off fees, nine years ago revenue was about $500,000; the landfill projects it will double to $1 million this year.

They encourage people to be mindful of what they put into the recycling drop-off locations. Because the county doesn’t have a materials recovery facility that sorts recycling, all the sorting is done by hand. They try to sort out any non-recyclable materials found in the drop-off bins, but if something has too much or can’t be sorted, the whole pile gets sent into the landfill, increasing the trash rate and losing the landfill money.

C4 reminds people that plastic bags and utensils, coffee cups, waxy milk and juice containers, take-out and greasy pizza boxes, motor oil containers, ceramics, glassware, mirrors and packing material cannot be recycled. Caps and lids also need to be removed before recycling, cardboard flattened and containers rinsed out.

Recycling can be dropped off at the landfill or at the two drop-off bin locations at West 6th and McWethy Drive by the Community Field and Playground, or at 141 County Road 10.