Legal cannabis could become less of a strain on Colorado's environment if the pot industry embraces a new set of waste removal and packaging rules — but not without a three-way tug-of-war between saving money, preventing black-market sales and encouraging environmental sustainability.
Leftover cannabis plant matter isn't your typical twigs and leaves. Because of the plant's intoxicating properties, commercial growing operations in Colorado can't just throw stems and unusable flower in an alley dumpster as if they were backyard tree trimmings. Cannabis production facilities must record every step of a cannabis plant's life in the state's seed-to-sale (and apparently post-sale) tracking system, including how all of the unused plant matter and product is mixed with such materials as sawdust, mature compost, bleach, coffee grounds, sand, glass or shredded paper — as long as the cannabis-to-waste ratio is 50/50.
But this mix doesn't just kill composting capabilities, according to the state Department of Public Health and Environment; it doubles the waste that cannabis businesses send to the city dump, landfills and pick-up services. In 2019, CDPHE data notes, 3,650 tons (7.3 million pounds) of cannabis plant waste was produced by the state's pot industry, with that number increased to 7,300 tons in order to meet the 50/50 requirement.
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