PROVINCIAL RECYCLING PROGRAM FUNDS WELCOMED

The City will make further strides toward improving waste management following the announcement today the province will launch its Multi-Material Recycling Program (MMRP).

“This is much welcome news,” says Environment and Corporate Initiatives Director Brenda Wallace.  “The funding for municipal recycling initiatives will help ensure our programs are financially sustainable as we work toward our goal of seventy per cent waste diversion by 2023.”

The MMRP is an initiative cost-shared between businesses and municipalities to provide funding to collect recyclables such as newsprint, cardboard, plastic and glass packaging.

An arms-length agency, Multi-Material Stewardship Western (MMSW) collects fees from businesses that produce, sell or distribute packaging to Saskatchewan homes; it then reimburses the municipalities for collecting the recyclables from those products.

Under the program the City could be eligible for more than $900,000 in funding.

“The amount of material diverted from the landfill can reduce environmental impacts,” Wallace says.  “There is no doubt, the funding will help ensure recycling efforts continue to extend the operating life of the landfill and lighten the load on city taxpayers in future.”

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