Paper and cardboard ban recommended at Saskatoon city landfills: report

The City of Saskatoon could be cracking down on businesses and institutions that don't recycle.

A report advocating a ban on paper and cardboard at the Saskatoon landfill is heading to a city committee next week.

The report lists a number of possible ways to enforce the ban.

The city could require businesses, schools and hospitals to provide on-site recycling. 

Regular inspections of trucks at the landfills could also occur, with potential fines or rejected loads for companies that don't comply.

In January, Council asked administration to write a report on the feasibility of a ban on paper.

"With paper and cardboard, there have been programs to recycle that material in the community for a number of years," said Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental and Corporate Initiatives at the City of Saskatoon. "We certainly believe there is significant waste diversion potential in instituting a landfill ban."

Wallace said requiring businesses to have a recycling program would help divert garbage away from the area's other two private landfills.

"This second kind of landfill ban would capture waste from the community, irrespective of what landfill it might be going to."

The city says there is a good reason for initiating a ban. While 10,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard were recycled last year, around 7,000 tonnes ended up in the landfill.

The city estimates that unrecycled paper contributes to five per cent of the total amount of garbage in the landfill each year, costing $440,000.

Administration also looked into the potential of a ban on plastic bags and styrofoam. However, the administration felt that issue would be better dealt with in the future.

"They're very complicated kinds of bans to implement, for very little impact on waste diversion," said Wallace. "Combined, they are less than one per cent of the waste stream coming into the landfill. So, it didn't seem like the most prudent place to start."

It's estimated setting up a ban on plastic bags in Saskatoon would cost more than $150,000 a year.

The report goes to the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services on Monday.