News Releases

As of January 1, 2018, China, which buys approximately two-thirds of North America's recyclables, set new standards which prohibit the importation of recovered paper bales that are overly contaminated with plastic film (stretchy plastics such as bags and wrap).

The resulting decrease in market options and increased demand for higher quality recyclable materials means that Saskatoon’s recyclers cannot sell all the material that they are collecting and are instead stockpiling a substantial portion.

“Soft stretchable plastics too easily end up in bales of paper and cardboard which is the cause of the contamination that will no longer meet China’s standards.” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental and Corporate Initiatives. “By eliminating plastic film from our recycling program we are able to ensure our other materials, such as paper and cardboard – which make up 76 per cent of our recyclable materials – are still meeting global standards and can continue to be recycled.”

To help explain the new change to the program, a communications campaign launched April 30, 2018.  It promotes tips for reducing the use of plastic film while encouraging the use of reusable products such as cloth bags, and hard plastic and glass containers.

With the recognition plastic film can’t be avoided sometimes, the campaign also promotes some helpful tips for re-using bags and film to keep it from being a one-time use item.

The recycling campaign supports the Strategic Goal of Environmental Leadership and the City’s target of diverting 70% of waste by 2023.

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.

• 2017 - The SASF program was featured as an international case study by the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP)
• 2017 - St. Volodymyr School’s participating grade 7/8 class received the Rob Dumont Energy Management Education Award
• 2016 - St. Anne School’s participating grade 8 class received the Rob Dumont Energy Management Youth Award
• 2013 - The SASF program received a Regional Centre for Expertise Award for Education for Sustainable Development
• 2013 - The SASF program received the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council Waste Minimization Award for Youth/Schools

Warm weather has arrived after a long winter and is now causing ice on the City’s lakes and ponds to deteriorate or rot. The Saskatoon Fire Department now asks people to stay off the ice since it may be unstable.

Assistant Chief Wayne Rodger says Saskatoon Fire Department staff have evaluated the ice conditions and have determined the ponds are no longer safe for recreational use.

“The degradation we’re observing along the shoreline could make access treacherous,” Rodger says.  “Once the ice starts to deteriorate -- as it has this year -- the thickness of the ice is no longer an indication of its strength.”

He says with warmer temperatures, several different factors come into play to make the ice unstable:

• When the snow cover melts, the sunlight and solar radiation travels through clear ice and is absorbed by the water below causing it to warm.  Through this process the ice melts from the bottom up. The solar radiation causes ice crystals to deteriorate dramatically weakening the ice.  Because this happens from the bottom up, even ice that appears stable may not be safe.

• When water pools on top of the ice, perhaps from the melting snow cover, it will be warmer than the ice and again allow solar radiation to travel through the ice causing it to melt faster.

• When water is moving above or below the ice surface, such as the inflows to our storm retention ponds from attached to storm sewers, ice will weaken. In the same way, river currents constantly affect the quality of the ice on the river making it unstable and dangerous for use.

The Saskatoon Fire Department again reminds residents to never go on the river ice and asks them to stay off the ice on the city’s lakes and ponds for the remainder of the 2018 season.

The City wants to warn residents about a phone scam involving someone pretending to be from City Utility Collections.

The City has received phone calls and e-mails from concerned customers.  The customers report they have all received the same phone call with someone making a claim their utility bill is overdue and their service will be disconnected.

The calls appear to be coming from a 1-800 number. Although the City has a 1-800 utilities customer service number, the City does not call customers from that number.

The City only disconnects service after the customer receives a written notice and if accounts are not kept current

Do not give credit card numbers or other banking information over the phone if contacted this way.

To confirm the identity of a City of Saskatoon Utility Collections employee, please call Utility Collections in Revenue Division by calling 306-975-2405 or 1-800-667-9944.

Anyone who receives a suspicious call of this nature is encouraged to attend to the Saskatoon Police Service (located at 76 – 25^th St E) and speak with an officer to leave a report.

Thanks to warm temperatures this week, roads are drying up enough for street sweeping and pothole repairs. With late snowfalls, these road maintenance programs are three to four weeks behind the average year.

“Today is our first day with hot-mix asphalt and City crews are already a few loads in,” says Brandon Harris, Director of Roadways & Operations. “We have utility cuts to maintain, countless potholes to repair, and six weeks of priority-street sweeping to complete before residential sweeping begins on May 7.”

Over the next two weeks, City crews will be working longer days and through the weekend to repair potholes beginning with those at highest-risk for causing injury or damage. Citizens will also notice sweeping along priority streets, business improvement districts, and on medians and boulevards.

“We are operating at maximum staffing and equipment capacity and expect unprecedented progress for sweeping and pothole repairs,” says Harris. “However, roads in general will still be bumpy and dusty on secondary roads for a few weeks because of this late start to spring road maintenance.”

In addition to sweeping and pothole repairs, the City is maintaining more than 1,000 utility cuts with gravel until they can be permanently repaired beginning next week. Citizens can report dangerous locations to our Customer Service Centre and continue to report potholes on our Report-a-Pothole app to help the City prioritize repairs.

City-wide residential street sweeping will begin May 7, weather permitting. Bright yellow No Parking signs will be posted in neighbourhoods 36-48 hours in advance of street sweeping, followed up with ticketing and relocation towing. At the same time, City crews will be permanently repairing potholes with a hot mix asphalt.  

Visit saskatoon.ca/betterroads to report a pothole and for street sweeping schedules and information on spring road maintenance programs.