City of Saskatoon considers replacing special handling fee for elm wood at landfill

Saskatoon is looking into replacing a special fee that collects a minimum $275 per load fee for large elm logs with a flat rate.

The special handling fee was brought in at the landfill in May 2021 for any logs more than 10 inches in diameter or three feet long. The department of waste operations said the fee was needed to process the bulky wood, which was difficult for crews to deal with.

Critics, including local tree trimming companies, said that the costly policy could mean Dutch Elm Disease could further spread through the city. 

Under city bylaw, elm wood most be disposed of at the landfill, or the decaying wood could become home to Dutch Elm beetles, which could then spread into healthy trees.

A report going to the city's environment committee is looking at the possibility of eventually replacing the special handling fee with a $50 flat rate per load of elm wood after being asked to look at the issue by councillors.

If the $50 fee is brought in, the city said that landfill workers would need be trained to identify elm wood, as well as whether the load of wood meets a minimum contamination threshold.

If both policies are brought in, it's expected to cost $157,000 a year in lost revenue to the city. The change would only apply to elm wood.

The flat rate would also include the traditional $15 entrance fee, as well as the traditional cost of disposing of garbage, set at $105 per 1000 kilograms of waste.

The new flat rate would only be triggered by loads of wood over 333 kg and the tipping cost would be cut off at $34.99 based on weight..

If approved, the special handling fee could be scrapped this month. Administration would then research bringing in the $50 flat fee and possibly introduce it in the fall or winter of 2022.

Serious issue

The City of Saskatoon has made keeping Dutch Elm Disease out of the city a priority. 

The last case of Dutch Elm Disease in the city was in July in Leif Erikson Park, in the Westview neighbourhood. An investigation found more than 13 tonnes of stored wood in 160 locations within two kilometres of the infected tree.

If left unchecked, the disease could kill thousands of trees across the city.

The report also looks at bringing in better communication to homeowners on how to deal with elm wood.

The report recommends council begin a pilot project to change people's behaviour. The project would be focused on a small number of people and would use community-based social marketing.

The city said it tried a similar strategy in 2019 around contamination of recycling bins, inspecting almost 5,000 carts and placing a green sticker if the recycling was not contaminated and an orange sticker if more work needed to be done.

The recycling study found that good behaviour increased by 8.6 per cent over three visits and bad behaviour decreased by 14.5 per cent.

If approved, the marketing project would cost $110,000 to design and implement.

The report said all elm wood will be disposed of in the city's new recovery park, which will be built outside the city's landfill.

The issue will be dealt with by councillors at the city's environment committee on Monday morning.