City of Saskatoon lays out plan to divert 70% of garbage from landfill

The City of Saskatoon has laid out its long-term plan to cut back on the amount of garbage being sent to the landfill.

The plan, which will be introduced to councillors at a committee meeting next week, outlines the city's goal to stream 70 per cent of Saskatoon's garbage away from the landfill by as early as 2030.

The city currently diverts 24 per cent of its garbage from the landfill, a much lower figure than the national average of 45 per cent.

The city's director of sustainability, Jeanna South, said several initiatives expected to roll out in 2023 have already been given the green light. Those include a curbside organics recycling program and the Recovery Park program, which will be a one-stop recycling and waste facility located at the city landfill.

"Those are things that we're anticipating, and they're already approved by council and they're moving forward," South told reporters on Wednesday.

"And the plan moves us to the diversion opportunities after that, so it lets council start to consider what those next steps can be in an organized way."

Those measures, along with recycling requirements for businesses and organic waste pickup, are expected to redirect anywhere from 41 to 54 per cent of the city's waste out of the landfill.

South said there were many reasons to support increased waste diversion in the city. The city estimates if waste diversion targets are met, the landfill could operate for another 40 to 50 years. The cost to build another landfill is estimated at $100 million.

The report also says waste diversion could reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions. It estimates the curbside organics program will cut 12,000 to 17,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, while required business recycling will cut 38,000 tonnes per year.

Long-term projects

While these programs have already been approved by council, the report also looks at other potential ways the city can divert waste in the future.

One of the ideas is to stop accepting items into the landfill that could be recycled elsewhere, once those systems are set up.

"If we have programs set up already for diversion of those materials, then do we stop accepting them at the landfill?" asked South.

"Or do we need to move those into a different stream? So that's something that could be a consideration for council going forward."

Other long-term ideas in the report include looking at clothing recycling and studying other cities to determine whether pay-as-you-throw garbage systems could be practical here.

The city is also considering a multi-unit residential organics plan, and a construction and demolition plan to encourage use of Recovery Park.

The report will go before councillors at a standing policy committee meeting on Monday.