The City and County of Denver can help you reduce waste and create a better experience for your attendees! This program will help public events and arts and entertainment venues switch from disposable to returnable reusable cups and/or food ware systems. Participants will receive guidance and up to $2,500 of service from our program partner, r.World.
r.World will provide program participants with:
Public events with a permit for 2024 and arts and entertainment venues are eligible to apply. Events and venues must be within the City and County of Denver. We will give priority to women and/or minority owned events and venues or those run by non-profits.
This program is managed by Denver's Zero Waste and Circular Economy team.
Applications for events must be submitted at least three weeks prior to your event in order to be considered for participation. If the application does not display properly below, you can see the application here.
Click here to view form.
If the application does not display properly below, you can see the application here.
Eligible participants include outdoor events with a permit for 2024 and permanent venues within the arts and entertainment industry. They must be open to the public and be located in the City and County of Denver.
Applicants accepted into the program as first-time participants will receive up to $2,500 worth of service from our partner, r.World. This support is to implement a returnable reusable cup and/or food ware system to be used at their event or venue.
Applicants that received support for their event in 2023 and are accepted into the 2024 program can receive up to 50% of their total costs (not to exceed $1,250) worth of service from r.World. Cost of service for your event or venue will be billed directly to the City and County of Denver for payment. However, lost cup/food ware fees are not eligible for payment through the city and will be the responsibility of the event or venue.
These are fees associated with reusable cups or food ware provided by r.World to an event or venue that are not returned at the end of service. These fee amounts will be noted in your r.World quote and then again on your invoice. The amount is based on how many cups or food ware items you don’t return. The city will not pay any lost cup/food ware fees that an event or venue is charged by r.World.
No. Organizations that plan multiple permitted public events may only apply once per year for a single event.
Yes. You may apply again in 2024, even if you received support in 2023. You are eligible to receive incentives that cover up to 50% of your total costs with r.World. The total incentive you receive in your second year cannot exceed $1,250. This support does not cover lost cup or food ware fees from r.World.
You must get a quote for service from our program partner, r.World, to be submitted with your application. The quote should include the event/venue details as well as the number of reusable cups and/or food ware and the number of collection bins to be provided.
A return rate looks at three things:
The higher the return rate the better the system is working to benefit the environment. If a reusable cup or food ware item is not returned to be used again within the reuse system, then that item would be no better for the environment than a disposable product. Return rate (sometimes referred to as a harvest rate) is determined by dividing the number of returned items by the total number of items given out. Program participants will receive a report from r.World that provides this data.
No. This program is focused on stopping waste before it starts by investing in return systems for reusables. While recycling and composting are good options, the best option is to avoid creating waste in the first place.
The application for 2024 is now open.
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