Political candidates who want to recycle their yard signs this year have two places to go in Colorado.

Since 2007, GFL Environmental of Colorado has been the only company in the state that accepts corrugated plastic signs for recycling. And it’s free.

Election Day is Nov. 2, and all the winning candidates who are term-limited will want to find a way to divert their signs from the landfill. Also, losing candidates who never want to try it again will need the same service. Those candidates can plan to drop their unwanted signs in designated containers near GFL’s recycling plant at 645 W. 53rd Place, Denver, or at GFL’s recycling plant at 4005 Interpark Drive, Colorado Springs. The bins will be available until Nov. 17.

“GFL has always been at the forefront of recycling technology, and we pride ourselves on our innovative sustainability programs and on our ability to keep the highest percentage of waste materials out of the landfill,” said Wendy Fauth, GFL’s Regional Recyclable Materials Manager.

The plastic will be transformed into many useful items such as bottles, carpeting, toys or other new plastic components. Depending upon the number of elections each year, the typical volume of yard signs recycled by GFL in the Denver recycling plant has hovered around 2.5 tons.

There are various types of campaign signs, and only the rigid, corrugated plastic is being accepted. The flimsy plastic (LDPE) is not recyclable at this time. Also, GFL asks that campaign workers remove the metal wickets from the signs. Those wickets can best be donated to other politicians who would like to use them in the next election, or the wickets can be recycled at a local scrap metal recycling facility.

GFL welcomes drop-offs between 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. In order to reduce traffic, GFL asks that campaign workers try to consolidate loads as much as possible.

Steve Caulk is president of ProConnect Public Relations, an all-purpose agency founded in 2005. Some of ProConnect PR’s clients have included DISH Network, New Town Builders, Alpine Waste & Recycling, Brookfield Residential, Central Street Capital, PlayerLync and Lake Arbor Automotive. He was recently named as the Metro North Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year. Previously, Caulk was director of media relations for DISH, where he wrote press releases, handled issue-related communications, worked on annual report content, and devised communication strategies. He also worked at the Rocky Mountain News as a reporter and editor in both business and sports. He has his journalism degree from Northwestern University and his master of business administration degree from the University of Colorado-Denver.

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