A report about the future responsibilities for recycling in Saskatoon will be discussed on Tuesday at the Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services committee meeting. Last May, the Saskatchewan Environment Ministry approved the Household Packaging and Paper Stewardship Program Regulations, and from that, the provincial stewardship agency SK Recycles will take over municipal recycling programs.

But there are existing contractual requirements for blue carts and compost depots, so Administration is recommending maintaining the status quo with no changes to both the curbside and multi-unit residential programs until December of 2027. That is basically Option 1 of three. After December 1st of 2027, the City would then have to transition to either Option 2 or 3. Option 2 is the City of Saskatoon led collection model. The City would provide recycling collection services to curbside and multi-unit residences and SK Recycles would provide services for the processing and marketing of recycling material.

Option 3 is the SK Recycles led model, which would mean the provincial entity would provide both collections and processing, including customer service and education. Municipalities would no longer have operational control of the residential recycling operations and there would be no funding from SK Recycles to the City.