Nearly three years after the vast majority of Denver voters approved a ballot initiative requiring restaurants and apartment buildings to recycle and compost their waste, the rules finally have a start date: September 2026.

Implementation of the initiative has been delayed multiple times as advocates and city officials have tinkered with the fine print. But Monday, the City Council gave final approval to the fully fleshed out requirements.

After first convening a task force on how to implement the measure, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s office proposed several changes and exemptions to balance the climate-friendly goals of the ordinance with the interests of small restaurants and businesses. But GreenLatinos, an environmental advocacy group whose leader put the “Waste No More” measure

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