How Breckenridge Turned a Sled Problem into Precious Plastic

Breckenridge, Colorado, best known for its world-famous ski resort, had a plastics problem. Every year visitors flock to this charming historic mining town to enjoy schussing and sledding down the slopes. What do they leave behind? Sleds. Tons of them. Cheap red, blue, green, and orange plastic sleds started to pile up in a shed in Carter Park, a few blocks away from downtown. Tourists who fly in for a few days of snowy fun buy these saucers and sliders and can’t take them home. They are left behind for others to use, but over time end up broken and discarded. Eventually, this heap of plastic trash weighed in at over 2,000 pounds.