Commerce City Citizens for Recycling announced recently its choice for the 2008 Business Recycler of the Year.

The group presented the award as part of its celebration of America Recycles Day. Rather than select a single organization, the group honored four organizations at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Those organizations are the U.S. Army and its program management contractor, TetraTech EC, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Shell Oil Co.

The organizations are in the process of completing the environmental cleanup and transformation of the Arsenal into a premier urban national wildlife refuge. As part of that work, they are recycling mountains of material nicknamed the "mini Front Range."

"The work being done at the Arsenal includes many forms of recycling," said Trudy Smith of Commerce City Citizens for Recycling. "The most impressive to me was the recycling of concrete purchased from the former Stapleton International Airport."

The 1.9 million tons of crushed concrete, which act as a barrier to burrowing wildlife, are being used to construct covers over the landfills and waste consolidation areas. Now that those are full and closed, crews have been hauling huge piles of concrete to the landfill areas.

But concrete is only one of many materials recycled at the Arsenal and Refuge. The organizations at the site recycle as many materials as possible, Smith noted, including:

• 10,000 tons of steel since the environmental cleanup of the site began

• 11,600 pounds annually of bottles, cans, paper and cardboard

• 234,000 pounds of scrap metal

Charlie Scharmann, program manager of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal for the U.S. Army, thanked the group for the honor.

"Recycling is one way we demonstrate our commitment to good environmental stewardship," Scharmann said. "As we look toward the completion of the cleanup in 2010, we hope generations of Commerce City residents will take advantage of the community asset the site has become and learn more about the wonderful resources that exist at the Refuge."

Commerce City Citizens for Recycling has more than a thousand members from all sectors of the community. Founded in 2001, the group aims to increase and ease recycling in the Commerce City area. Among the many activities the group sponsors are three annual computer and tire recycling drives. To get involved or find out more, attend a group meeting at the Derby Resource Center on the last Tuesday of every month.