REPORT ON INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT RELEASED
On Monday, September 15, the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services, will receive the Integrated Waste Management Annual Report for 2013. The report highlights the following key findings:
*Recycling programs, including the new blue-cart program for houses and recycling depots across the community achieved a 67% increase in diversion over 2012 by diverting 12,622 tonnes of material from the landfill.
*The new blue-cart program collected a broad range of materials for recycling including the following by weight:
-Paper and cardboard: 74%
-Household glass: 7%
-Aluminium and tin: 5%
-Plastics: 5%
-Deposit beverage containers: 1%
-Residuals from processing: 4%
-Contamination from collections (garbage in carts): 4%
*Recycling helped recapture 10% of the landfill airspace in 2013, equivalent to adding 5.5 years to the life of that facility.
*The Waste Disposal Rate per household continues to decline in Saskatoon and the amount of garbage collected per home in 2013 was 0.95 tonnes (or 252 kilograms per person). This is still higher than the national average of 0.64 tonnes.
*New specifications for garbage carts are helping to bring the cart failure rate down to 0.55% compared to the rate of 15% experienced in some neighbourhoods.
*The cost to deliver residential garbage services remains constant over 2012 at $144.27 per household in 2013 (or $12.02 per household per month). This cost is comparable with other municipalities across Canada.
*Availability of vehicles and equipment has been an issue in 2013 with significant hours of downtime logged for mechanical or maintenance-related issues. This is affecting both service delivery and cost.
*Saskatoon has one of the highest rates of residential garbage self-hauled to the Landfill in Canada, creating site management challenges for the operations of that facility. These challenges, along with equipment downtime, contribute to rising operating costs that have now nearly doubled since 2008 to $29/tonne.
*Landfill tipping fees must cover both operating costs and capital improvements. The range of fees for tipping waste among 26 municipal landfills across Canada is $32.65 to $125 per tonne. Saskatoon’s fees (at $90 in 2013) fall in the middle of this range (near the median).
Since 2013, recycling and composting programs are showing signs of continued growth and success.
The blue-cart recycling program for houses has already recycled more than 7,500 tonnes of recyclables so far in 2014. Cart set-out rates on each collection day remain high at an average of 67%. The contamination rate (garbage placed in carts) has dropped to under 4%.
The green-cart yard waste program now has 3,900 subscribers, an increase of 30% over 2013, contributing to the diversion of organic waste to compost depots rather than the landfill.
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