How Is URCO Composting Capacity Calculated in Gallons in Denver?

URCO defines service capacity in gallons, not pounds. Weekly organics capacity equals container volume multiplied by collection frequency, and it must be sufficient that material does not overflow between pickups. Weight is a useful operating metric but is not the compliance measure under the ordinance.

That distinction sounds technical and turns out to be the most practical thing on this site. It determines what service you buy, how much it costs, and whether your Waste Diversion Plan holds up.

Why URCO measures service capacity by volume, and what happens when vendors quote you in pounds.

What is the actual formula?

Container volume in gallons, times pickups per week, equals weekly service capacity in gallons.

Setup	Weekly capacity
One 64-gallon cart, 1x per week	64 gallons
One 64-gallon cart, 3x per week	192 gallons
Two 96-gallon carts, 2x per week	384 gallons
One 2-yard dumpster (about 404 gallons), 1x per week	About 404 gallons

That is the whole calculation. The difficulty is not the arithmetic. It is that most operators have never been asked to think about their waste service in these terms.

Why gallons and not pounds?

Because volume is what the ordinance regulates, and volume is what can be verified.

An inspector standing in your enclosure can see container sizes and read a service schedule. Both are objective and observable. Nobody is weighing your organics at the curb.

Weight also behaves badly as a compliance measure. Organics density swings enormously by generator type. A produce-heavy restaurant and a bakery producing identical poundage occupy wildly different container volumes. Volume tracks the thing that actually matters, which is whether the container overflows.

Does that mean weight is useless?

Not at all. It is just a different layer.

Pounds diverted is the right number for tracking program performance over time, for sustainability reporting, and for evaluating whether waste-reduction efforts are working. Keep it if you can get it.

Just never let it substitute for the compliance measure. If a vendor describes your URCO obligation in tons, they are describing something the ordinance does not ask about. That is a reasonable signal to ask more questions.

How do you estimate your organics volume?

Two approaches, and the second is better.

Estimate from benchmarks. Use per-unit or per-cover figures to project organics volume. Fast, directionally useful, frequently wrong at the property level.

Measure. Run your existing organics or watch your trash for two to four weeks and record actual fill levels at each pickup. Note the peaks, not the average. Capacity has to handle your busiest week, not your typical one.

Peak matters more than mean. A property sized to average volume overflows predictably during holidays, move-in weekends, and banquet season.

What is the de minimis threshold?

A premises generating less than 64 gallons of trash per month, or less than 48 gallons of organic materials per month, may qualify for an organics exemption.

Forty-eight gallons per month is a very small amount of food waste. It is roughly one standard kitchen bag per week. Most covered food businesses clear that by a wide margin, and most 8-plus unit residential properties do too.

Document the volume before relying on the exemption. An undocumented assumption is not an exemption.

What is the frequency-versus-size tradeoff?

This is the most useful practical insight in the whole topic.

Capacity is a product of two variables, and only one of them requires physical space. If your enclosure cannot fit a larger container, you can often reach the same weekly capacity by increasing pickup frequency instead.

More frequency also reduces odor, reduces pest pressure, and reduces the window in which contamination sits and gets worse. It sometimes costs more per gallon. It frequently costs less than a construction project to expand an enclosure.

Do interior containers count toward capacity?

Interior collection containers that staff empty into a centralized exterior container are generally staging, not service capacity. The compliance measure is the capacity of the collection service leaving your property.

Count the containers the hauler services. Track the rest as operational infrastructure.

Frequently asked questions

How many gallons is a cubic yard? About 202 gallons. A 2-yard dumpster is roughly 404 gallons, a 4-yard is roughly 808.

Is there a required percentage for organics capacity? Denver's rules set service capacity proportions across streams. Confirm the current figures in the adopted URCO Rules and Regulations before designing to a specific percentage.

What if my container is always overflowing? That is a capacity failure and a likely violation. Increase frequency or container size.

Can I count a compactor? Compaction affects volume handled, not container capacity as measured. Document the arrangement carefully.

Get your number

Melly's Recycling is a Denver URCO compliance company, not a hauler. Capacity analysis in gallons is one of the first things we do, because it determines what service you actually need and it is the section of a Waste Diversion Plan most likely to be wrong. We also handle signage, education, annual reporting, and documentation, and coordinate licensed Denver haulers through a sealed-bid process.

You finish what you started.

Request your free URCO compliance audit and get your capacity number in gallons.