Commodes into Roads

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

Beginning in April of 2012, the El Paso County Community Services Department, Environmental Division, Household Hazardous Waste Facility (County) partnered with Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) to start collecting residential porcelain in the form of toilets, sinks, ceramic tiles, and granite or marble countertops. The collected porcelain is crushed into a durable aggregate material that is suitable for multiple applications: it can be added to road base, which saves taxpayer money by reducing the amount of road material that needs to be purchased as well as saving landfill space by eliminating those items from local landfills; used in trail construction; or used as backfill material for drainage projects. The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA), a regional road improvement agency, has committed to utilizing whatever quantity of crushed porcelain that can be provided for their road projects. The following table shows how the program has gained momentum as awareness has increased. Year Total Tons Collected 2012 75.53 2013 248.73