Greeley, Fort Collins, Boulder and Longmont have recycling systems in place for used water closet products. Recycling is often part of the rebate program and has many benefits.
Used toilets and urinals (and tile) can be crushed with concrete to make very effective road base, and can be a rock mulch, saving raw materials, reusing waste streams, and showing good stewardship.
Porcelain often must be delivered with internal parts and all metal removed. Some groups charge a fee if toilet is intact. Most recyclers prefer large volumes (roll-offs) of product. Manual crushing is dangerous and is best done mechanically.
Here is some background information:
City: Boulder/Longmont
Organization: Eco-Cycle http://www.ecocycle.org/charm/
Through: Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM)
Small fee for doing so: $4. Funding and organization details are on the website.
Important section: What Happens to my Hard to Recycle items: Toilets, Sinks and Urinals: These porcelain materials will be sent to a company that grinds up old concrete into a material that can be used in place of gravel road base in road construction projects.
I asked which company receives the toilets and they referred me to Dan.
Primary Contact who runs the toilet recycling system: Director of CHaRM: Returns to town on Monday.
City of Fort Collins: Contact: Amanda Cameron, Scale Clerk, (970) 482-1249
Organization: City of Fort Collins
http://www.fcgov.com/utilities/img/site_specific/uploads/rebate-toilet.pdf
http://www.fcgov.com/utilities/residential/conserve/water-efficiency/toilet-rebates/toilet-recycling
Project is managed in house: Multiple uses: 1. Crushed for road base for use in paving with concrete, not asphalt.
Timeline: they have been doing this about a year.
Public: They crush and make it available for citizens at 1.25 inches pieces to use in yards, etc.
Local concrete companies do use the recycled product, including: Vogel Concrete, Mountain Constructors.
City of Fort Collins Concrete Paving Contact: Kathleen Maddux, 970 222 8781
Toilets are added directly into concrete pile to crush.
Participation has been good and improving.
City of Greeley: Recycles toilets as part of their toilet rebate program:
Rebate Details: http://www.greeleygov.com/Water/Documents/2010%20toilet%20rebate%20application.pdf
Program details: http://greeleygov.com/Water/fixtures.aspx#recyc
Recycle Center Details: http://www.greeleygov.com/CommunityDevelopment/GreeleyGreen.aspx
Rebate Programs: http://greeleygov.com/Water/Rebates.aspx __________________________________________________________________
City of Denver: Rebate Program: http://www.denverwater.org/Conservation/Rebates/2010Rebates/2010ResidentialRebates/2010FAQs/
Status: In Denver, Denver Recycles at 720-865-6805 picks up large toilets but does not recycle them.
Denver recycles them only as part of large job retrofits. Nothing is available for single consumer drop off.