In Saskatoon, 79,000 single family homes are serviced with garbage, organics and recycling from the City and there are 39,000 multi-unit homes with the City’s garbage and recycling collection. The multi-unit recycling is through an agreement with Cosmopolitan Industries. The results of a pilot project on multi-unit organics recycling was presented to the Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services Committee on Tuesday, which indicates 96 per cent of the residents participated at least once in diverting their organics and 81 per cent support the City in implementing the service city-wide. Another 11 per cent somewhat support it. Fifteen properties took part in the Lawson Heights, Silverwood and River Heights areas.

The City’s Environmental Operations Manager, Brock Storey reported to the committee that one of the things they are reviewing is how to fund the service. Last year, the organics program was launched for single-family units with homeowners being billed a monthly utility fee rather than going through property taxes. Administration is recommending something similar for multi-unit properties.

Storey says, “I think that waste collections has become a lot more sophisticated since the days of the past where there was just one garbage cart or one garbage bin, and so we would just like to take some time to review the model that we have been providing to multi-units and make sure that aligns with the needs of our residents.” The report states that cart location in the pilot project played an important role in the participation rate. A convenient location close to the garbage and recycling usually led to higher participation numbers.