City and Recycling Partners Launch “Blue Approved” Awareness Campaign

Saskatoon residents continue to need reminders about what can and should be recycled according to the 2015 Integrated Waste Management Annual Report.                                                            

“Every day, about three busloads of recycling ends up in the garbage in Saskatoon,” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental & Corporate Initiatives.  “So, to increase awareness and generate renewed enthusiasm about recycling, the City of Saskatoon, Loraas Recycle and Cosmopolitan Industries have collaborated to develop a city-wide “Blue Approved” recycling campaign which launches today.”

To help illustrate this, watch for the Saskatoon Transit bus with a side-image showing one bus load of recyclable material.  Check out social media for images and information on what can be recycled and where to find more information, and look for portable billboards across the city.

The campaign originates from findings contained in the Integrated Waste Management Annual Report for 2015 set to be received by the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services.

The report highlights a 2015 recycling survey of 1,000 Saskatoon residents to measure recycling knowledge, program satisfaction and recycling information sources. Overall, program participation was reported as being fairly high with most residents responding they recycle all or most of their household’s recyclable items.

The survey also found more than eight-in-ten residents correctly identify most items can or cannot be recycled in curbside blue carts and multi-unit outdoor bins. Areas of weaker knowledge include recycling of hard plastics, plastic grocery bags, Styrofoam, plastic toys, foil paper and foil containers.

“The 2015 Integrated Waste Management Annual Report provides a current description of waste handling, waste reduction and waste diversion programs and services,” Wallace says. “The City has an ambitious target of 70 per cent waste diversion by 2023, and its recently approved application for membership in the National Zero Waste Council shows a commitment to establish new options to reduce waste and the associated environmental and economic costs of managing waste.”

The 2015 report highlights the following key findings:

• In 2014, the City completed a study on the content of garbage from single family households and from multi-unit buildings.  The study showed that of 53,012 tonnes of garbage from single family households, 14,000 could have been diverted; and that 11,600 tonnes of waste were generated from multi-unit buildings and up to 30% of the materials were recyclable.
• Saskatoon’s waste diversion rate for 2015 was 21%, slightly down from 22.5% in 2014.  The national average curbside diversion rate (2014) was 33%.
• The City’s residential blue cart curbside recycling, multi-unit residential recycling, public space recycling, recyclables accepted at the Saskatoon Landfill and civic facilities recycling diverted a total of 14, 678 tonnes of materials, an increase from 2014.
• The residential blue cart recycling service, provided by Loraas Recycle to 67,807 households, collected 11,353 tonnes of material with a 4% contamination rate.
• The residential multi-unit recycling service, provided by Cosmopolitan Industries, was fully deployed in May 2015 to 34,329 service addresses.  A total of 2,073 tonnes of material were collected with an average contamination rate of 20%.
• The optional Leaves and Grass (Green Cart) program served 5,752 subscribers in 2015, an increase of 46% from 2014.  A total of 2,118 tonnes of compostable materials was diverted through the program in 2015.
• In 2015, 12,499 tonnes of material were diverted through the City’s two Compost Depots and 46,753 vehicle visits were made.
• 62,502 tonnes of residential garbage was collected in 2015.  The Residential Waste Disposal Rate was 242 kilograms per person, a decrease from 265 kilograms per person in 2012.
• A route efficiency exercise in 2015 calculated the most effective grouping of neighbourhoods.  The new routes started in 2016 and are expected to save fuel and time and defer the need for additions to the fleet of garbage trucks.
• In 2015, approximately 157,091 tonnes of material was accepted at the Saskatoon Landfill.  Over 900 tonnes of metals, white goods, propane tank and batteries, and 51,716 litres of used oil were removed from the Saskatoon Landfill for recycling or disposal as hazardous waste.
• The Saskatoon Landfill had 88,247 paying visitors in 2015.  More residents are using the Saskatoon Landfill, however the number of commercial haulers has decreased.
• Saskatoon continues to have one of the highest rates of residential garbage self-hauled to the Landfill in Canada.