NextCycle Colorado has awarded Blazin’ Joe the grand prize at its 2025 NextCycle Competition. NextCycle provides support and resources to start-up businesses focused on creating markets for recycled, reused, and recovered materials.
Blazin’ Joe, one of five women-owned businesses participating in the competition, repurposes debris from the coffee roasting process into fire logs and starters handmade in Golden. The products are cleaner-burning, sustainable alternatives to traditional firewood or starters.
The Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise, housed at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, helps Colorado businesses, local governments, and communities transition to a circular economy, which keeps materials out of landfills by shifting manufacturing processes to reduce waste, extending the useful life of products, and supporting new markets. The enterprise funded Resource Recycling Systems’ NextCycle Colorado, a business accelerator program that supports circular economy ventures and grows end markets for recycled, reused, and recovered materials in Colorado. Eight Colorado entrepreneurs participated in this NextCycle Colorado cohort.
The pitch competition is the culmination of a six-month program that provides participants with technical resources, mentorship, and a multi-day business planning-focused bootcamp. During the competition, each team presented its business concept to better use our natural resources and reduce waste. Teams competed for a cash prize to turn their business plans into a reality. Since 2018, fifty teams have participated in the program, and many have gone on to receive private investments and state grants.
“In Colorado, we encourage and celebrate innovation, which is essential for reducing waste and advancing circularity,” said Jeff Stalter, Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise Program manager. “I’m thrilled that these creative companies contribute to the enterprise’s success in driving circularity work statewide.”
For the People’s Choice award, the audience selected SURPStone of Grand Junction. SURPStone repurposes plastic waste into high-quality pavers, decorative stones, benches, and flowerpots. Their products exceed industry standards while promoting sustainability.
Other 2025 pitch teams and projects included:
- Cold Spark (Longmont) — used cryomilling technology to recycle electric vehicle batteries and electronic waste.
- Driven Plastics (Pueblo) – incorporated recycled plastic into asphalt to create stronger, more sustainable roads.
- High Plains Biochar (Laporte) — converted agricultural and forestry waste into biochar, a product that improves soil, filters water, and stores carbon.
- Maple Ridge Rubber Paving (Saskatoon, Canada, with Colorado end-market operations) — engineering recycled rubber into sustainable paving and resurfacing solutions.
- Refound Goods (Denver) — hosted an online marketplace for secondhand furniture and made home goods more accessible.
- The Source Zero (Fort Collins) — expanded zero-waste shopping with a mobile delivery service and commercial warehouse.
Learn more about the Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise, including other funding and technical assistance, by visiting our website.
