BOLDERBOULDER.
2013RECYCLINGREPORT.
I. Overview
The Bolder Boulder 10K road race has been known as one of the largest races in the nation. Although the
2013 Bolder Boulder saw a reduction in race participants from the previous year, the large amount of people
gathered for this event always presents a high potential for recycling, composting and waste reduction.
The Bolder Boulder race organizers continue to put a lot of work towards reducing their environmental
impact. Waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting have been a large focus throughout event
planning and operations.
Partnered with the CU Recycling Program, a strong effort was made to reduce the waste generated and
capture the recyclable/compostable materials produced from the event. The success of our recycling efforts is
also attributed to the participants of the Bolder Boulder race, who made a conscious effort to recycle and
compost their waste materials.
Even with over 50,000 runners, friends, family, and staff at the event, the recycling efforts were a success. A
total of 74% of all waste was diverted from the landfill to be recycled or composted… the highest diversion
rate in Bolder Boulder recycling history!
II. The Numbers
The following is a breakdown of the solid waste generated at the Bolder Boulder races:
Recycled
Materials
Commingled
Containers
Single Stream
Recycling
Corrugated
Cardboard and
Paperboard
Paper
Compost
Total
2007
Weight
(lbs.)
4,196
2008
Weight
(lbs.)
2,165
2009
Weight
(lbs.)
6,691
2010
Weight
(lbs.)
5,168
2011
Weight
(lbs.)
2,741
2012
Weight
(lbs.)
2,757
2013
Weight
(lbs.)
5,264
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1000
430
450
11,643
9,940
17,160
14,296
12,061
8,240
12,820
67
0
15,906
0
0
12,105
0
4,297
28,148
0
5,839
25,303
40
12,500
28,448
0
7,778
19,205
247
8509
27,290
Landfilled
Materials
WM-handled
Trash: stadium
WM-handled
Trash: course
CU-handled
Trash
Total
2007
Estimated
Weight
(lbs.)
21,040
2008
Estimated
Weight
(lbs.)
18,320
Not
recorded
at all
Not
recorded
by WM
8,200
1200
(from start
line)
1,900
0
Not
Recorded
18,320
0
2040
22,340
47,080
21,040
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Estimated Estimated Estimated Estimated Estimated
Weight
Weight
Weight
Weight
Weight
(lbs.)
(lbs.)
(lbs.)
(lbs.)
(lbs.)
14,140
43,840
10,780
17,000
9,580
570
Delivered
by BB
staff to
finish area
1127
Delivered
by BB
staff to
finish area
0
13,250
18,127
9,580
When comparing the total waste, both recycled and land filled combined, there are significant differences
between the recorded years of the Bolder Boulder races. The trends can be summarized as follows:
Total
Waste
(Recycling +
Trash)
Weight (lbs.)
Percentage
Change (from
previous year)
Recycling
Diversion Rate
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
26,225
44%
decrease
36,946
41%
increase
30,425
18%
decrease
50,488
66%
increase
72,383
43%
increase
37,332
10%
decrease
36,870
1%
decrease
43.1%
43.1%
39.8%
55.8%
34.9%
41,698
17%
decrease
from
2009
68.2%
51.4%
74%
Waste reduction should always be the first step to minimizing the impact of an event’s waste stream. As the
table above shows, total waste in 2013 was very similar when compared to 2012 levels.
Waste totals are provided by several sources, as there are several groups collecting the different types of
waste. The following is a breakdown of who collects the different materials, and thus, who provides the
weight totals:
CU Recycling:
- Commingled Containers from Stadium/Expo
- Compost from Expo
- Paper from Stadium/Expo
EcoCycle
- Compost from Race Course and Stadium Aid Stations
- Single Stream Recycling from Race Course Aid Stations
Waste Management
- Cardboard/Paperboard from Stadium/Expo
- Trash from Stadium/Expo
Weights from CU Recycling and EcoCycle have been provided promptly after the race. Weights from Waste
Management have been a bit more challenging to acquire, but after several emails and phone calls, the details
have been made clear to lead to the totals above. Wade Hambleton has done a great job to create a reporting
mechanism for the waste from the race, holding Waste Management accountable for providing accurate
weight totals. It has often been difficult to get accurate weights from Waste Management and weights were
provided as potential estimates, rounded numbers, and/or lump sum totals. This leads to more of an estimate
or guess when determining the actual event diversion rate. For the 2013 weight totals from Waste
Management, details were provided once they were asked several clarifying questions.
The trends of the past years have shown that the Lunch Pack provided to each runner is directly related to the
amount of waste produced at the end of the race. Not only the packaging of the actual items in the lunch
pack contribute to total waste, but also the bulk packaging that each of the items are shipped in. Since these
items are donated, it becomes difficult to demand changes in the packaging for the lunch pack items. If there
are options, the vendor with the least amount of packaging in their products should be used. If not, this idea
of “minimal packaging” should be addressed to the vendors to change their process for the future years.
During the 2006-2008 races, the lunch pack quantities had been decreased to provide just enough lunches for
the race participants. This is an effective strategy for waste reduction and should be considered more closely
when planning for the lunch pack.
During 2013, the BB ended up with less registered runners than they had planned for. This led to an excess
of lunch pack items donated by sponsors, however, these items were never packed in lunches and were
donated to Community Food Share. On top of this, a significant number of registered runners did not show
up for the race, which led to even more lunches donated to Community Food Share. This relationship is
great, as it is a means to channel the excess food to people who can use it.
It is hard to plan for registration shortages, but if there is a way to accommodate for less lunches, this would
reduce the waste from the lunch pack, especially when registration is lower.
Another direct correlation to the amount of total waste is the type of Expo vendors that are providing
“giveaways” at the end of the race. This year, it appeared that Expo vendors brought far less packaged items,
creating far less waste. Also, lots of the packaging they provided was recyclable (cardboard and paperboard),
which led to less trash and more recycling from the Expo.
Compost stations were placed in the Expo area to try and capture any compostable serving ware from the
vendors. Since CU Recycling did not know which vendors were serving compostables, the compost bins
were placed in the high traffic locations and moved during the start of the event to be closer to the vendors
serving compostable disposables. Volunteers were provided as “Zero Waste Goalies” for certain compost
bins in the Expo area, which led to far less contamination at these bins. It is very clear that in order for
composting to work successfully in the Expo area, there needs to be a ZW Goalie at every compost bin for
the entire event. It was noticed this year that as soon as the ZW Goalies left their stations, the bins were
immediately contaminated. CU Recycling had a significant amount of contamination in the compost bins
that needed to be sorted after the race. Many of these bins were trash because they were too contaminated.
Compost at the two finish line aid stations was also more of a challenge this year, for 2 main reasons:


Non-compostable Pepsi cups were used along with the compostable Gatorade cups
o we did not know this until the day of race, and when EcoCycle was consulted, they said to go
ahead and compost them anyway
o the compost was delivered to A-1 Organics, who did not reject the delivery (fortunately) and
tried to compost the cups as best as possible
o this will probably lead to plastic bits in the finished product of compost that A-1 Organics
creates
o lots of these cups were thrown away at the IPF when sorted out by CU Recycling
Compost bins contaminated with recycling/trash
o This year, more than ever, people were throwing cans/bottles/trash into the compost bins that
were suppose to be for the Gatorade Cups only
o It seemed that lots of people would bring their lunch pack back to the aid station area and
needed more bins to throw away their items, other than just the compost bins that were
provided
Although the total waste from the BB was about the same this year, the recycling diversion rate has increase
from 51% in 2012 to 74% in 2013. This is a great success and can be attributed to several factors:
o Increased amount of recycling bins placed at the finish area and Expo
o More than 200 recycling bins were provided
o Almost all trash bins have been paired with recycling in order to give the option of recycling
at any waste disposal location
 Most of the trash bins had 2 or 3 recycling bins next to them
o As a result, Commingled Containers weights almost doubled from 2012
o Improved collection methods by CU Recycling
o Recycling poly carts were located at high volume areas, which allowed CU Recycling staff to
collect full bins more frequently
o Recycling bins were not overflowing as much, which left more space to recycle
o Increased amount of compost collected
o Compost weights were almost 800 pounds more this year
o More Expo vendors using compostable products
o More compost bins were placed at the Expo area
o Increased cardboard/paperboard collected by 4,400 pounds
o Lunch pack items were delivered in lots of cardboard and paperboard
 Often times, items came in boxes that were packed in other boxes
o Expo vendors bringing items in cardboard/paperboard more often
o Total landfilled materials decreased by over 8000 pounds
o Lunch pack items had more recyclable packaging
o Expo vendors brought their items in more recyclable packaging
 Less trash, even when they were unpacking their items
o BB staff recycling correctly during the lunch pack
o With more waste items going into the recycling, there is ultimately less in the trash
Expo coordinator, Alice Swanson, was also able to keep out the King Soopers magazine once again,
eliminating the need for Mixed Paper collections. In the past years, a pallet of these magazines were dropped
off at the Expo area and never distributed, going directly to the recycling dumpster with out anyone even
seeing them.
The following chart depicts the recyclable material, in both type and amount, over the past ten Bolder
Boulder races.
18000 lb
16000 lb
14000 lb
12000 lb
10000 lb
8000 lb
Co-mingled
Containers
Cardboard
Paperboard
6000 lb
4000 lb
2000 lb
Newspaper/
Office Paper
Compost
20
0
20 3
0
20 4
0
20 5
0
20 6
0
20 7
0
20 8
0
20 9
1
20 0
1
20 1
1
20 2
13
0 lb
III. Environmental Impact
A. Recycling Diversion Rate
74% of the solid waste (by weight) was diverted from the landfill and recovered for recycling/composting.
This accounts for the waste and recycling generated throughout the course, at the finish area, and at the event
exposition.
B. Natural Resource Conservation
Recycling saved the following energy and natural resources:
o 80 forty-foot Douglas Fir Trees
o 153 million BTU energy
o 6.2 MTCE (Metric Tons of Carbon Emissions)
o 45,735 gallons of water
o 1,110 gallons of gasoline
o 8.2 cars off the road for 1 year
IV. Finances
A. Revenues from Sale of Materials
2.632 tons commingled containers @ $31/ton (CU Recycling)
Total Revenues
Notes on Revenues:
$ 81.60
$ 81.60


Cardboard/paperboard revenue would be provided by Waste Management, sent directly to the
Bolder Boulder, since all the cardboard/paperboard was taken to the WM facility
Aluminum was not separated this year by CU Recycling staff, due to time/staff needed to sort out
aluminum from the rest of the commingled containers
B. Labor Costs
1. Event Planning
10 hours x $20.00/hour
2. Event Set-up (5/27)
5 hours x $23.00/hr
25 hours x $10.00/hour
3. Day-of Event Recycling and Break-down (5/28)
15 hours x $23.00/hour
120 hours x $10.00/hour
Total Labor Costs
$200.00
115.00
250.00
345.00
1200.00
$1,910.00
C. Net Cost = $1,828.40
 Net Cost includes labor cost, less the revenues captured by the Sale of Materials (not including
the cardboard revenue)
 Less labor time was needed by CU Recycling staff to sort out the aluminum from the commingled
containers
D. Potential Avoided Trash Cost
The weight of the recyclable materials collected is the amount of waste that was not sent to the landfill.
Along with saving the materials from this permanent grave, the costs associated with disposing of the trash at
the landfill are also saved, or avoided.
Since Bolder Boulder has a sponsorship arrangement with Waste Management, the actual cost of hauling
trash from the event is not clear in this report. If this cost was to be incurred to the Bolder Boulder race
organizers, the avoided trash cost could be calculated as follows:
To have a 30 yard roll off of trash pulled from CU Campus, it costs $200.
Total Recycling/Compost collected = 27,290 pounds
Using a Volume to Weight conversion chart for municipal solid waste, the weight of each material
can be converted to volume (yards). The chart can be found at:
http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/approvals/dsconv.pdf
The volumes are as follows:
Co-Mingled Containers (180 lbs/yd):
Cardboard (200 lbs/yd):
Compost (400 lbs/yd):
5,264 lbs = 29.24 yds
12,820 lbs = 64 yds
8,509 lbs = 21.27
Totals Yards = 114.5 yds
# of 30 Yard Roll Offs Avoided (114.5 yds/ 30 yds) = 3.81
Cost for four 30 Yard Roll Offs ($200*4) = $ 800.00
Avoided Trash Cost = $ 800
- does not include the cost of collecting compost, which would have to be subtracted from this
V. Recommendations for 2013 Bolder Boulder
A. Successful Items to Continue:
1. Lunch pack recycling efforts
a. Lunch distribution volunteers flattening and delivering cardboard and paperboard to roll-offs
(separate from trash items).
b. Provide 6-8 mail carts for the volunteers to transport material to roll-offs (Wade will take as
many as we can provide)
c. Provide recycling bins to collect Commingled Containers from volunteers/staff in the field
house
2. Advance confirmation of the availability and delivery of roll-offs with WM for stadium
recycling/trash
3. Utilize new Zero Waste Station set up at the race course aid stations for trash, recycling and compost
a. Each aid station should have:
i. 1-2 dumpsters for compost (2 or 3 yard, 3 preferred)
ii. 1-2 dumpsters for single stream recycling (mostly cardboard, but some Commingled
Containers)
iii. a few trash bags for any remaining trash, to be organized by aid station managers
b. All dumpsters provided by EcoCycle
c. Trash taken back to the finish line area, gate 7 roll off
d. No bins provided by CU Recycling
4. Continue to improve Race Course recycling and composting
a. Have a sponsor create signage for the dumpsters to easily label them with the proper materials
to be collected
b. Have aid station managers collect the signage after the race in order to keep them for reuse
c. Provide recycling instructions to aid station managers…. This makes an extremely effective
difference
d. Get reports from Aid Station managers about the recycling/composting/trash process
5. Set-up Recycling and Trash Stations with further co-placement and consolidation of trash cans. Set
up on the Sunday before race day. Use one consolidated map of station placement for all set up crews
(Bolder Boulder and CU Recycling)
6. Set up composting collections at the stadium aid stations (finish line) for Gatorade cups
a. NW side (by Rec Center)
i. 2 dumpsters (3 yard)
ii. 10-12 poly carts to collect cups just inside the Fieldhouse entrance
b. NE side (by gate 12, at top and bottom of stairs)
i. 6 polycarts on the top of the stairs
ii. 4 poly carts on the bottom of the stairs
c. Provide a “Paper Cups Only. To Be Composted” sign on the dumpsters and poly carts
7. Provision of extra polycarts/bins and mail carts, specifically for Expo vendors pouring out of
recyclable containers and unpacking their samples.
8. Stadium clean-up crews and volunteer crews sorting recyclables from trash during the stadium bowl
pick and while sweeping the ground after the race.
9. Continued use of banners on roll-offs to distinguish materials recycled/trashed
10. Provide a radio for CU Recycling to be connected to operations during race day
11. Ensure weight tickets from Waste Management to accurately capture recycling and trash weights.
They need to be asked in advance to provide weights for their roll-offs and for race course waste.
Contact Mona Mestas at WM before the race to make sure she prepares her drivers to capture the
correct weights and deliver them to the correct place
a. Having WM take all the cardboard/paperboard made things a lot easier to keep track of for
weights, but provided less revenues ($100-200 less)
12. Continued communication with volunteers, vendors, and staff about the use of the all the recycling
and trash roll offs to avoid contamination, which will ruin all recycling efforts
13. Work with Community Food Share to:
a. Donate any extra lunch pack items/bags
b. Capture any extra lunch pack bags to be used with the CU Recycling Green Teams
14. Bolder Boulder staff to oversee trash collections during race at both the Stadium and Expo areas
a. In the past years, there was no Bolder Boulder staff directly responsible for collecting trash
b. Trash collections during race was almost all volunteers, who were very overwhelmed and
were not able to keep up with the volume
c. There were more volunteers specific to trash collection this year and they were well trained by
a BB staff member, so this was a significant improvement
15. Press Release about the BB greening efforts, prepared early in advance with data from waste statistics
and lunch pack numbers
16. Use all of the recycling bins from CU Recycling, including the bins stored in the stadium… roughly
200 bins total
a. Allowed for more recycling bins that trash bins to the public
b. Utilize 10-12 CU Recycling staff to service bins during race with empty poly carts
c. Set up larger poly carts at high volume areas so the public bins can be emptied more easily
during the race
17. Volunteer roles – continue to clear up for CU Recycling and beyond
a. Provide a supervisor from the BB staff to monitor and adjust them during race
b. Provide volunteers with more supplies (maps, gloves, mailcarts, liners, etc)
c. Have more volunteers on trash collection, with less small children
d. Continue to have Zero Waste goalies in the Expo area were compost is provided
e. Volunteer training performed by CU Recycling for the Zero Waste Goalies
f. Separate volunteers for the Trash Collection that are NOT the ZW Goalies and trained by BB
staff
18. CU Recycling to hold a “Customer Service” training for all staff involved on race day
a. In 2012, one CU Recycling Staff member had an altercation with one of the Expo Vendors
over the recyclability of their products served. The vendor perceived the interaction as
negative, and reported it to the BB organizers.
b. All interactions with CU Recycling staff MUST be in a positive manner, even in the high
stress environment of race day
c. More information regarding Expo Vendor materials, ahead of time, would help alleviate this
problem
d. The Environmental Center has already held a “Customer Service” training with all its staff,
including the CU Recycling staff members. This training will be held every year and also
reinforced on race day with everyone working.
B. Potential Improvements to Consider for Next Year:
1. Ensure Compost ability of the aid station cups
a. Pepsi cups were not compostable and we did not know until race day
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
b. This led to contamination of compost, though the compost delivery was not rejected this year
c. Need to get samples of cups ahead of time to make sure they are compostable
Roll Offs/Dumpsters:
a. Field House (lunch pack): 1 trash, 3 cardboard/paperboard
b. Field House (race day): 1 trash, 2 cardboard/paperboard
c. Expo: 1 trash, 1 cardboard/paperboard
d. Gate 7: 1 trash
e. Gate 12: nothing needed (trash roll off was empty this year)
Expo Area
a. Work with Expo vendors to encourage them to bring their giveaways in
recyclable/compostable packaging
i. To establish that BB is committed to Zero Waste and waste reduction
ii. Let vendors know of the BB zero waste goals
iii. To plan for bins (compost, recycling, roll offs, etc)
b. Add an area to the vendor application to explain the type of packaging they are using to
distribute their products
c. Set up some type of financial incentive for vendors to use recyclable/compostable packaging
i. A reduction in their vendor fee or an increase in their fee if they don’t bring zero waste
packaging
d. Set up compost bins in the Expo area to capture the items from vendors serving compostable
wares
e. Providing recycling instructions in advance and again on-site to companies at the Expo
Fed Ex Mobile Lockers
a. Since we cannot recycle the plastic bags from the mobile locker system, there needs to trash
bins provided for this area
b. Provide some type of reusable bag (potentially donated by a vendor) for the entire system
Zero Waste Communications
a. Ensure recycling messages/graphics are used on announcements and on the BuffVision
display.
i. This item has happened in the past years, but never confirmed in the last 5 years
b. Include recycling instructions in race packets instead of on lunch insert. This was not visible
in 2013, although it might have existed
c. Stadium announcements over the loud speakers to all people, explaining to “Put your waste in
the right place”, etc
d. Banners in the Stadium (extremely large) with a recycling symbol/verbage on them so they are
seen with all the other sponsor banner/ads
e. More “prompts” to remind people to recycle over the course of the race, at the finish line, in
the stadium, and in the Expo
Zero Waste Goalies
a. More are needed for the finish line aid station compost bins to keep contamination out
b. Trained by CU Recycling on race day morning
To recognize the commitment to conservation and waste reduction efforts and to further the culture of
sustainability within the organization and among all participants,.
a. Bolder Boulder could consider adopting a sustainability plan and incorporating sustainability
into its mission statement.
b. Continue to further the Zero Waste efforts, involving less packaging, reusable containers,
composting, etc.
c. Purchase recycled content paper products for race packets and posters (as close to 100% post
consumer recycled products as possible).
d. Purchase organic and sweat shop free t shirts and lunch bags for the race.
e.