At a regular meeting on February 16, 2022, City Council approved a contract for the City to purchase Curbside Recycling Indefinitely, Inc. (GJ CRI), the curbside recycling program currently contracted by the City. The founders and previous owners, Steve and Elaine Foss, started GJ CRI started as a pilot project in 1989. The project was well-received and eventually grew to the point where Steve and Elaine quit their day jobs to operate the program, which offered city-wide residential curbside recycling services. The City began its partnership with GJ CRI in 2007, when it entered into an agreement to pay certain expenses for the operation to continue. In return, all money derived from the sale of residential commodities collected at the curb was returned to the City to offset program costs.
In its thirty-three years of existence, GJ CRI (originally CRI) has grown from a pilot program servicing 50 households to a program that provides recycling services to over 6,182 residential curbside and drop-off customers each month. Today, GJ CRI recycles millions of pounds of highly marketable commodities to domestic mills all over the United States. The opportunity for the City to purchase GJ CRI became available when Steve and Elaine Foss decided to retire from the operation. The City and the Grand Junction community thanks the Foss family for their devotion to recycling and wishes them well on their next projects.
“We grew the fledgling pilot project into a city-wide program,” said Steve Foss. “The constantly growing program has kept us and GJ CRI staff extremely busy over these past decades. Everyone involved can take pride in what has been accomplished and what will be accomplished by the City going forward.” General Services Director Jay Valentine added, “This is a wonderful opportunity to continue the Foss’ passion for recycling in Grand Junction. The City is excited to continue providing recycling services to our residents.”
Under City ownership, GJ CRI will benefit from operational efficiencies and the ability to expand recycling opportunities. The City is pleased to be acquiring the public/private cooperative effort that has become a model for municipal sustainability. Customers will not see any operational changes during the transition and curbside and drop-off recycling operations will function as normal.
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Contact: Greg LeBlanc, Sr. Assistant to the City Manager | 970-244 1557 or gregoryl@gjcity.org.