The 2026 Summit for Recycling, sponsored by Recycle Colorado!, was indeed a summit for Custer County’s High Country Recycling (HCR). The all-volunteer HCR organization is an innovative non-profit, operating under local Sustainable Ways, Inc. It was spearheaded in 2006 by the now retired local force of nature, Joannie Liebman, in whose honor the recycling center at the County Landfill is named. At the event held in Westminster earlier this month, HCR was given one of the eleven Recycle Colorado! awards, and was one of three cited for the Mereth Meade Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award.
In keeping with the exuberant recycling dynamic of the gathering, even the award was on repurposed material. The HCR citation reads.
“CONGRATS! This award plaque is made from a pre-consumer recycled circuit board. Originally intended for outdoor LED signs (Think: ‘Click it or Ticket!’), it failed quality control and was scrapped. We upcycled it by using a laser to reveal the hidden copper layer.”
The festive award dinner was held in the Butterfly Pavilion, and prior to dinner, a special butterfly release was held in the conservatory in honor of award recipients.
In her acceptance speech, Deb Adams, representing HCR as a member of the Board of Directors, noted the challenging aspects of initial recycling efforts here: remote location, initial limited buy-in from residents and businesses, minimal information on how to recycle, no funding, transportation issues, and fluctuating materials markets. Over the years, though, HCR grew significantly, highlighted by high energy volunteers, and culminating in Joannie Liebman’s acquiring a large grant from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. The grant was dedicated to the construction of the Materials Recovery Facility at the County Landfill, the baler inside it, and the hiring of a part-time operator. Along the way private donations and other grants have been used for the ten recycling trailers now in use, the establishment of three other recycling stations in addition to the Joannie Liebman Recycling Center, downtown recycling barrels, and Big Blue, the glass recycling container placed at the Altitude Fitness Center parking lot. Adams emphasized the importance of community partnerships like this, which now include both towns, the Custer County School District, and participation in the Wet Mountain Valley Community Foundation’s Spirit Campaign.
After citing key volunteers by first name, Adams said, “Everyone’s volunteer participation is vital to keep recycling happening in the WMV,” and concluded, “We carry on with our mission to be a comprehensive, successful program that supports individual, business and governmental practices that reduces waste, promotes reuse, and advances recycling throughout Custer County. We greatly appreciate this award and thank you very much for the honor.”
In a personal communication with the Tribune, Adams noted, “The Summit was very inspiring and most encouraging with the young people passionate about recycling.”
Details about the Summit for Recycling mission and outreach are available at recyclecolorado.org. Our local stars in the orbit of the statewide recycling campaign maintain a very informative and user-friendly site, highcountryrecycling.com. There, information about where, when, how, to recycle and how to volunteer can readily be found.
The Tribune echoes the Summit citation to HCR: CONGRATS!
– W.A. Ewing
