Denver, CO
Should Denver allow exemptions for “Waste No More” ordinance? Initiative’s backer objects to changes.
Two and a half years after the vast majority of Denver voters approved an initiative requiring apartment buildings and restaurants to recycle and compost more of their waste, the city’s implementation of that mandate has hit another snag.
City officials, after convening a task force and soliciting input, have proposed ordinance updates that would result in enforcement finally beginning. But the initiative’s chief backer says the changes include too many exemptions from the rules that risk thwarting voters’ intent.
A City Council committee, citing those concerns, decided last week to postpone a vote advancing the changes to the full council.
While the requirements technically have been in place since they were approved in the November 2022 election, city officials have been working to formally implement them since then. Now, they’re recommending some changes and exemptions in an effort to balance the climate-friendly goals of the ordinance with business interests.
“The mayor has been clear on this point. He believes you can be both a climate-friendly city and a business-friendly city, and those are not in conflict,” said Jonathan Wachtel, the deputy executive director of the Denver Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency.
But GreenLatinos, an environmental advocacy group whose leader put the “Waste No More” measure on the ballot, says the suggested changes aren’t in line with what voters approved.
“This isn’t what the Denver voters want,” said Ean Tafoya, who was campaign director for the initiative. “Denver voters want action now, not delays.”
Following a presentation by the Office of Climate Action on May 7, Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez raised the concerns from GreenLatinos and asked to postpone the item until May 21.
Under the new recommended city rules, enforcement — which initially was supposed to roll out in phases on long-passed dates — would begin all at once in April 2026.
The voter-approved ordinance, which passed with about 71% of the vote — requires apartments, restaurants, commercial buildings and permitted events to provide recycling and composting services. Construction and demolition projects are also required to separate and recycle all recyclable materials, including concrete, asphalt and scrap metal.
The entities in charge of a property or event are required to pay for the access and pickup of recycling and composting.
The city provides composting and recycling pickup only for single-family homes and residential buildings with up to seven units.
In 2023, the mayor’s office convened a task force to make recommendations on how to implement it. It’s typical for local and state governments to make tweaks to citizen ballot initiatives once they’re approved to ensure they’re pragmatic or enforceable.
But Tafoya says many of the city’s new suggestions weren’t included in the group’s final report.
Under the city’s recommended guidelines, restaurants that bring in less than $2 million in revenue and have 25 or fewer employees would be totally exempt from the requirements. About 16% of the restaurants in Denver fall under those thresholds, said Tim Hoffman, director of policy for the mayor’s office.
That’s one of the biggest points of contention for GreenLatinos, Tafoya said.
“Businesses can be profitable and small businesses and do the right thing with waste diversion,” he said.
The city also suggests construction and demolition sites would be required to divert 50% of the waste generated on their sites away from landfills. Small projects, like construction sites of less than 500 square feet or interior remodels of less than 2,500 square feet, would be exempt. Other exemptions would include projects involving hazardous materials or emergency orders.
Multifamily residential buildings would be able to apply for exemptions for challenges like space constraints and the inability to secure a service provider for the waste.
Several categories, including multifamily residential buildings and special events, would offer exemptions if the property or event produces extremely small amounts of waste. Tafoya said he wants that to be better defined.
Special events drawing fewer than 350 people would also be exempt.
Properties and events would be required to create a compliant waste management plan and put up signage. They would also be susceptible to a fine of up to $999 for failure to comply.
“This is an education-first approach to enforcement,” Wachtel said. “There is an action the city can take if we have someone that just doesn’t want to respond to education and outreach.”
Most of the entities impacted would be able to claim that they couldn’t meet the requirements because they posed an undue financial burden and apply for an individual exemption.
Tafoya and GreenLatinos planned to meet Wednesday with council members to discuss their concerns further ahead of next week’s meeting of the Business, Arts, Workforce, Climate and Aviation Services Committee.
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Ken Roczen led Hunter Lawrence into Round 16 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver with a four-point advantage and a newly acquired red plate. With Lawrence’s win and the reduction of three points, the two riders head to Salt Lake City in a winner-take-all scenario.
Lawrence won his heat, while Roczen finished third in Heat 2.
Lawrence took the feature lead early, and once he sniffed clean air, he steadily increased his gap on second.
“It’s good,” Lawrence told Peacock’s Will Christien. “[At the] five-second board, I’m just so excited. Let’s go out, have fun, and do what I love to do. It couldn’t have been much better than that.”
Lawrence cut the championship deficit to a single point heading into the season finale. The two riders each have five victories.
If Lawrence and Roczen manage to tie in points, which will happen if they finish in the middle of the pack with Lawrence on spot ahead of Roczen, the tiebreaker would come down to second-place results. Lawrence finished second five times early in the season; Roczen has two runner-up results.
Meanwhile, Roczen had a modest start and had to come through the pack. Once he settled into second, he lost the tow of the leader, and ultimately lost more than 12 seconds to Lawrence.
Returning from an injury suffered in Cleveland, Eli Tomac thrilled the hometown crowd with the final podium position. He stalled his bike in sand in the opening laps but executed Beast Mode in the middle stage of the feature.
Fourth-place Malcolm Stewart and Chase Sexton rounded out the top five.
In-Race Notes
Jorge Prado earned the holeshot, but Lawrence took the lead quickly.
Roczen slotted into fourth on the opening lap. There is a five-point gap between first and third in Supercross scoring.
But Roczen secured second from Prado on Lap 3, and trimmed three points from the gap.
Roczen lost 4.5 seconds to Lawrence as he made his way into second.
The third title contender, Cooper Webb, took third from Prado on Lap 5.
Lawrence had the flow in the opening laps. He extended his lead to 6.2 seconds on Lap 7.
Tomac stalled in the sand and fell outside the top five, but found his rhythm and climbed to fourth on Lap 8. Webb lost a position to Prado earlier in that lap.
Lawrence was on a rail, forcing Roczen to ride on the edge of his comfort zone.
A little further back in the field, Justin Barcia was sixth on Lap 10 in his second race back.
Tomac secured third from Prado on Lap 12.
Roczen fell to eight seconds behind on Lap 13. Eight minutes remained on the clock.
The top three settled into a rhythm with seven minutes on the clock. The gap between them was slowly widening.
Cooper and Dylan Ferrandis tangled while challenging for sixth.
One lap later, Webb tangled with Jorge Prado, and both riders lost momentum. Webb hit the dirt and dropped outside the top 10. That ended his dim hope of securing a fourth Supercross championship.
Malcolm Stewart moved into fifth.
One lap later, Stewart grabbed fourth from Sexton.
In all the chaos, Justin Barcia (eighth) climbed into the top 10 in his second race after returning from a scary crash in the season opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
Ryan Nitzen | May 2, 2026
Denver, Colorado serves as round 16 of the Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium. Today is the penultimate round of the Supercross Championship and things are coming down to the wire as Ken Roczen leads the championship by four points over Hunter Lawrence. In 250SX, the Western Divisional Championship is back on track with Haiden Deegan looking to close out his season on top. Let’s get into the action from qualifying!
450 QUALIFYING
Ken Roczen is turning up the heat late as he leads the 450SX points for the first time ever in the second-half of the season. The Progressive Suzuki rider set the fastest lap in the 450’s and posted the fastest time of anyone on track with a 50.103. He was only two-tenths quicker than Hunter Lawrence who took second overall with a 50.314. Chase Sexton looked fast all morning and clocked the time to beat in Q1 before taking third overall.
450SX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Ken Roczen | (Suz) | 50.103 |
| 2. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 50.314 |
| 3. | Chase Sexton | (Kaw) | 50.392 |
| 4. | Justin Hill | (KTM) | 50.532 |
| 5. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 50.771 |
| 6. | Eli Tomac | (KTM) | 51.010 |
| 7. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 51.039 |
| 8. | Justin Cooper | (Yam) | 51.054 |
| 9. | Garrett Marchbanks | (Kaw) | 51.350 |
| 10. | Christian Craig | (Hon) | 51.524 |
250 QUALIFYING
With 250SX West back on track today, it’s no surprise to see Haiden Deegan as the fastest qualifier. He’s already clinched the 250 title so there’s no real pressure other than closing out his 250 career with a win. Deegan heads to the line first going into the night show and was the only 250 rider in the 50-second range. Levi Kitchen was a close second and looks up to speed after a mid-season back injury. Ryder DiFrancesco rounded out the top three after setting the time to beat in the first qualifying session.
250SX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 50.981 |
| 2. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 51.348 |
| 3. | Ryder DiFrancesco | (Hus) | 51.562 |
| 4. | Max Anstie | (Yam) | 51.750 |
| 5. | Lux Turner | (Yam) | 52.196 |
| 6. | Max Vohland | (Yam) | 52.692 |
| 7. | Joshua Varize | (Kaw) | 52.696 |
| 8. | Cameron McAdoo | (Kaw) | 52.759 |
| 9. | Carson Mumford | (KTM) | 52.829 |
| 10. | Hunter Yoder | (Yam) | 52.939 |
Denver Notes
- Eli Tomac returns to action today after crashing in Cleveland and missing the last two rounds
- Joey Savatgy crashed in 450 Q1 and injured his wrist. He’s out for tonight’s racing
- Cameron McAdoo is back on track after recovering from a fractured humerus in Seattle
- Kayden Minear makes his pro debut today with the Star Racing Yamaha team
- Gage Linville starts his time with the Triumph Factory Racing Team today
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The Colorado Avalanche will face the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here’s the schedule and how to watch each game as the Avs continue their 2026 playoff run starting Sunday at Ball Arena.
Avs vs. Wild playoff schedule
Game 1: 7 p.m. Sunday, May 3, Minnesota at Colorado, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX
Game 2: TBD, Minnesota at Colorado
Game 3: TBD, Colorado at Minnesota
Game 4: TBD, Colorado at Minnesota
Game 5*: TBD, Minnesota at Colorado
Game 6*: TBD, Colorado at Minnesota
Game 7*: TBD, Minnesota at Colorado
*If necessary
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