Pitkin County Solid Waste ‘visionary’ Cathy Hall to leave
Hall to move to Minnesota position after 12 years
Courtesy Photo
Solid waste management in Pitkin county took some drastic changes for the better when Cathy Hall took the reins nearly 12 years ago.
“Cathy is a visionary,” Pitkin County Public Works Director Brian Pettet said. “She is committed to the profession and the environment … she saw an opportunity at Pitkin County and really seized it.”
When Hall became Pitkin County Solid Waste Center director in 2013, she implemented multiple successful diversion programs that changed the operation entirely, including mattress recycling, a program to redirect construction waste, and a food waste program, Pettet said.
In late January she accepted a position at the Olmsted County Environmental Resources Department in Minnesota, where she will begin as director in March. But her legacy at Pitkin County will not be forgotten.
“We do so much, we’re more than just a landfill,” Hall said of Pitkin County Solid Waste.
Pitkin County has one of the highest 2024 waste diversion rates in the state, keeping 42% to 44% of materials from the landfill through recycling, reusing, composting, or other methods of sustainable waste management, according to Hall.
“It’s unheard of for a rural, small community,” Hall said.
The center’s unique diversion programs is one of the things Hall was most proud of during her tenure with Pitkin County. This includes partnering with Boulder-based Eco-Cycle to distribute books, which in the past would’ve been tossed in the landfill, to a low-income reading program on the Front Range.
“We collect them here,” Hall said. “And then they get sent down there.”
Hall also helped create a unique diversion program where mattresses are diverted from the Pitkin County landfill and taken to a Denver to be recycled, saving roughly two cubic yards of landfill space, according to Hall.
“(Mattresses) just going into the landfill is terrible,” she said.
Hall began her tenure by spearheading an educational outreach program in 2014 to educate the public about how to correctly recycle and deal with food waste. The center created a website, developed educational commercials, and increased their public outreach.
“Which really made a big difference on the quality of recycling,” Hall said. “Our contamination rates went down.”
In 2015, she helped the county bring its landfill operations in-house. Before they had operated through a contractor.
“So bringing that in-house was like a million dollars in savings at the time,” Hall said. “And really improved efficiencies.”
In partnership with the community, Hall and the center developed the Construction Demolition Debris Diversion Ordinance, which was passed by the county commissioners in 2020. The ordinance requires contractors to separate all their recoverable materials to designate for recycling, repurposing, or reuse, according to the county. A minimum of 35% of construction demolition debris must be diverted, Hall said.
With the ordinance, the county has diverted and recovered 77% of materials from construction sites, keeping them out of the landfill, according to Hall.
“And the program has been a huge success,” Hall said.
The ordinance was critical to improving recycling as building materials constitute 53% of materials disposed of in the landfill, according to the county. Recoverable materials include concrete, corrugated cardboard, porcelain, metal appliances, asphalt, single stream recyclables, organics, and more.
Hall helped start Pitkin County Solid Waste Center’s Motherlode Mercantile, a retail store aiming to divert materials such as furniture, spotting goods, architectural materials, lighting and plumbing fixtures, decorations, and landscaping materials, and sell them at an affordable price. Individuals can also donate materials and receive a tax deduction.
In 2022 Hall helped expand the Pitkin County landfill’s northern capacity, allowing it an additional six to eight years of life. The center is currently working on expanding the landfill to the south, hoping to give it an additional 70 years of capacity. Without the expansion, Pitkin would have to haul its trash to a landfill in another county, Hall said.
“And it would be very expensive,” Hall said.
The Pitkin County composting program, too, has grown 80% since Hall started at the center.
Hall has worked in solid waste for 30 years to date. After growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, she moved to Washington DC where she worked for the Solid Waste Association of North America. She then worked for SCS Engineers for 10 years before she moved to Pitkin County.
The move to Olmsted will continue her decades of dedication to sustainability.
“This is a step up for Cathy,” Pettet said. “She is going to be having a greater impact on a larger, regional community.”
Hall will take over from Tony Hill, the former director. Hill in October transitioned to be Olmsted County’s physical development division administrator.
“She’s knowledgeable, easy to talk to, and I think she has a vision of where she wants to take the department,” Hill said of Hall’s move to Olmsted. “We’re just excited about it.”
Hill dedicated her life to solid waste to make a difference.
“It’s fun to me to watch the changes you can make and how it impacts trash,” Hall said. “And trash is closely associated with greenhouse gas impact. So just being able to impact that and make a difference is what drives me.”
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
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