Teton County increases recycling during 35 anniversary challenge, with gains across the 3C’s.

JACKSON, Wyo. – Teton County residents, businesses and visitors helped move the needle during the community’s “35 in 35” challenge – a goal of reaching 35% waste diversion during the 35th anniversary year of community recycling.

While the community did not quite reach the 35% target, Teton County’s overall recycling and composting rate increased from 28.9% in FY2024 and 30.5% in FY2025, to 33.4% in fiscal year 2026. The community also made strong progress in every material highlighted by the challenge, the 3C’s: Cans, Corrugated Cardboard and Compost.

“We asked Jackson Hole to focus on a few everyday materials that still constitute a significant portion of what is thrown away, and the community responded,” said Becky Kiefer, Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling superintendent. “We did not quite reach 35%, but the important thing is we made encouraging gains. These results show that the choices made by individuals, businesses and visitors can add up to meaningful progress.”

The valley delivered gains across the 3 C’s

The 35 in 35 campaign encouraged the community to concentrate on cans, cardboard and food scrap composting because all three continue to be found in the trash, even though they are easy to recycle and have strong commodity markets for recycling and reuse. Cans, for example, can be recycled an infinite number of times. Here are the 3C’s results, from FY2025 to FY2026:

  • Aluminum-can recycling increased from 64.8 tons to 83.9 tons – an increase of nearly 30%.
  • Steel and tin food-can recycling increased from 44 tons to 46.8 tons – an increase of approximately 6%.
  • Corrugated-cardboard recycling increased from 1,687.6 tons to 1,959.7 tons – an increase of approximately 16%.
  • Food-waste composting increased from 170.3 tons to nearly 225 tons – an increase of approximately 32%.

“Cans, cardboard and food composting may seem like small items one at a time, but together they represent a significant opportunity to reduce waste,” said Cindy Harger, waste diversion outreach specialist. “The progress in each of these categories deserves recognition, and we hope the community will keep building on this momentum.”

More material to manage – and a greater share kept out of the landfill

The gains came as the overall amount of material moving through Teton County’s recycling and waste system also continued to grow alongside Jackson Hole’s population, development and visitor activity.

Teton County managed approximately 58,297 tons of material in FY2026, about 8% more than the previous fiscal year. Even with more material moving through the system, the community increased the share diverted from the landfill by 3 percentage points and kept 19,444 tons out of the landfill, up 18% from 16,422 tons in FY2025.

Continuing the Road to Zero Waste

The 35th anniversary challenge was one milestone within Teton County’s broader Road to Zero Waste effort begun in 2014. Through a Road to Zero Waste resolution, Teton County established a goal of diverting 60% of community waste from the landfill through waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting and other recovery efforts.

Teton County operates a transfer station rather than a local landfill. Trash collected in the community must be loaded into tractor-trailers and hauled approximately 100 miles to a regional landfill in Idaho. Recycling and composting reduce the amount that must be buried while allowing useful materials to be made into new products or returned to the soil.

ISWR thanked residents, businesses, visitors, waste haulers, funders and community partners for helping move the needle and encouraged the valley to continue the habits emphasized during the anniversary challenge.

“Thirty-five percent was an anniversary challenge, not the end of the road,” Kiefer said. “The larger goal is to keep reducing waste and increasing diversion as a community. This year’s progress shows that we can do that together.”

For accepted materials, drop-off locations and waste-reduction resources, visit TetonCountyWY.gov/Recycle and follow RoadToZeroWaste.JH on Facebook and Instagram.