A year is all about numbers. This past year, 2025, was the first year Colorado Circular Communities (C3) was fully operating, funding projects and working with communities and others to support the circular economy around the state. 

To date this year, C3 has awarded approximately $27 million in grants throughout the state including rural and urban communities. 

By the numbers:

24 - Mini Grants

8 - Impact Grants

3 - Capacity Building Grants

15 - Strategic Technical Expertise for the Public Sector (STEPS) Projects

Those numbers add up in many ways, such as tons of waste diverted from landfills, expansion of recycling access, boosting composting, and supporting sustainable solutions and positive environmental impact.

C3 funding is already making an impact in Colorado!

• Compass Community Collaborative School received C3 funding to launch a new middle school course exploring the environmental impact of plastic, with a focus on PET materials. Students will learn how plastic affects their community and discover creative ways to recycle and reuse it. The grant also supports the creation of a small-scale recycling space in the school’s design lab, giving students hands-on opportunities to turn learning into action.
• YMCA of the Rockies received funding to install new recycling bins and signage in high traffic areas to increase waste diversion at the Estes Park Center and Snow Mountain Ranch.
• Dream Catcher Weddings, a sustainable wedding planning company, was awarded funding to purchase new recycling and compost bins. These bins will allow Dream Catcher to provide recycling and compost at all their weddings with no fee for their customers.
• iRecycleHere received funding to purchase a hard-drive shredder and data-sanitation system to securely destroy sensitive data on devices, giving residents, businesses, and local agencies greater confidence when recycling electronics. This led to higher recycling participation rates and expanded capacity to process e-waste materials.

STEPS projects helped prepare communities to advance circularity all around the state. Recipients this year included: Town of Granby, Town of Windsor, City of Salida, City of Westminster, City of Arvada, City of Steamboat Springs (two projects), City of Durango, City and County of Denver, City of Durango, City of Yuma, City of Brighton, Chaffee County, Summit County, and Adams 12 Five Star Schools. Learn how your community can receive technical assistance with STEPS.

Time brings new opportunities. In October, C3 temporarily paused Impact and Capacity Building Grants so we could reassess processes and programmatic details. In short, we had more interest than initially expected! We greatly appreciate your patience as we finalize changes. We look forward to sharing the improvements in January, and hope the changes will streamline the application experience.