Cart Care

The City encourages residents to label their garbage (black), recycling (blue), and organics (green) carts with their home address in order to identify them after severe storms, construction, or theft.

• Markers or Paint Pens (temporary): Paint pens, waxed markers, or tire markers that are white (or high contrast) will all do the trick. No liquid or spray paint. Use a stencil or freehand and ensure the numbers are 6–8" high to optimize readability.
• Stickers: Make sure they have vinyl or waterproof coating and will stick to textured plastic.

Home numbers are to be displayed on the designed white area on the front of new carts. If your cart does not have this area, use the flat portion on the front of your cart or the bottom portion of the side of your cart; excluding the lid or back. Please refrain from obstructing cart logos, serial numbers, warning labels, or other cart information as it must be visible to collection staff at all times. Only use the approved labelling methods and do not physically alter the cart (e.g. branding, melting, scraping).

Verify your cart: Provide the serial number (on front of cart) or your home address to:

• City of Saskatoon (black and green carts): 306-975-2476
• Loraas Recycle (blue carts): 306-242-2300

Waste Bylaw #9844 prohibits tampering with the carts and their contents wherever they may be found.

• If possible, keep your carts in the shade, and ensure the lids arefully closed. Every once and a while, give the inside of your carts a rinse.
• Wash your carts periodically with mild soap or a vinegar-water solution. Pour soapy water onto grass or gravel. Do not pour soapy water down outside drains. 

Green Cart:

• Line the bottom of your kitchen catcher with newspaper to absorb moisture or use a BPI-certified compostable bag.
• Cleaning your kitchen pail frequently can also help reduce odours and insects.
• Sprinkle baking soda or vinegar in your kitchen catcher or directly into your Green Cart to help reduce smells.

• Cart lids must be COMPLETELY closed and in an upright position to prevent windblown litter. Waste outside of your cart will not be collected.
• Collection times vary. Set out your cart no later than 7 a.m. on your collection day.
• Place your cart so there is at least 1.2 meters (4 feet) of space on all sides between your cart and all obstacles (cars, other carts, fence).
• Your cart must not obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Place your cart on even surfaces to prevent it from tipping over.
• Return your cart to your property by 7 p.m. on collection day to prevent fines, theft, or damage to your cart.
  
  
  
  
  
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• Place your cart on the street with wheels facing the curb in front of your residence in which the cart is assigned.
• Carts should not be placed on the sidewalk or blocking your neighbour's driveway.
  
  
  
  
   
• For winter collections, residents are responsible for clearing snow (natural or from grading) and debris. Do no place carts on top of snowbanks.
  
  
  

• Place your cart in the designated collection area on the edge of the lane with wheels facing the fence behind the residence in which the cart is assigned. Please watch for low overhead utility lines.
• Do not block the lane. Do not restrict access to your neighbour’s driveway or gate.
  
  
  
   
• For winter collections, residents are responsible for clearning and snow or debris that would interfere with the safe collection. Carts placed on top of snowbanks cannot be collected safely.
  
  
  

• All carts must be arranged in the center of the cul-de-sac facing the same direction with at least 4ft (2m) between them to ensure collection.

Tips for successful collection:

• Please avoid parking your vehicle in the cul-de-sac on collection day.
• Please refrain from leaving large objects (e.g. basketball net) on the street.

• For winter collections, the City's snow clearing efforts can sometimes present obstacles for effective waste collections. Each cul-de-sac and “City” snow pile placement is unique, so residents are asked to decide which option best suits their scenario. Please place carts all in one area, either in front of or beside the snow pile, facing in the same direction.
  *Note: Property owners are not permitted to place their private property snow on the roadway.
  

• Carts must be stored on your property only and clear of roadways, sidewalks, back lanes, boulevards and other municipal property.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Extreme weather, mechanical failures, and lane conditions may disrupt collection. Please remember to watch for service alerts that may affect collection on your route. If there was no service alert issued and your cart was still not collected, please call:

• City of Saskatoon (black and green carts): 306-975-2476 or use the online form
• Loraas Recycle (blue carts): 306-242-2300

We encourage residents to try the small cart for a couple collections to see what works. Adjusting to your smaller cart may take some time.

The small cart is designed for 2-3 45L kitchen garbage bags. If materials are packed too tightly in the cart, they will not fall out of the cart during pickup. Please do not overfill, wedge or overpack the waste into the carts. If possible, store materials until next collection date.

Tips: Cut up large materials like furnace filters, use small kitchen bags and look at what materials can go into your blue and green cart.

If your cart is located in the wrong place, it may not be emptied on schedule. Refer to the illustrations and examples on this page to ensure that your carts are properly placed for collection.

If you know you’re going to be away when your cart is scheduled for collection, ask a neighbour or someone else to roll it out for pick-up and return it to your yard or garage by 7 p.m. to prevent fines and theft. Excess recycling can be taken to a City Recycling Depot or Loraas Recycle at no additional cost.

Your carts have been assigned to your household and are your responsibility. Damaging or tampering with carts, and adding or removing materials other than your own, is an offense under the Waste Bylaw #9488 and may result in fines.

1. Scavenging can be reported by calling the 24/7 Customer Service Centre at 306-975-2476
2. If you witness scavenging try to get photos and/or video that will provide valuable information.  Please only do this if it is safe to do so.
3. Write down as much information as you can including:
   • Licence plate number and description of the vehicle
   • Description of the people involved
   • Time, date and location of the incident

Refer to your Collection Calendar for your scheduled days, including holidays.

The small cart is designed for 2-3 45L kitchen garbage bags. We encourage residents to try the small cart for a couple collections to see what works. Adjusting to your smaller cart may take some time.

If materials are packed too tightly in the cart, they will not fall out of the cart during pickup. Please do not overfill, wedge or over pack the waste into the carts. If possible, store materials until next collection date.

Tips: Cut up large materials like furnace filters, use small kitchen bags, look at what materials can go into your blue and green cart.

The carts are designed to withstand strong winds (65 km/hr) when placed on a flat level surface.  Place the carts on flat level ground to prevent tipping, not on a raised platform or curb. Please make sure that all garbage is bagged in the event of exceptionally strong winds.  Make sure you roll in your cart and return to your property after your collection and store appropriately.

Putting your carts out the right way on collection day can help ensure your carts are collected safely and on schedule. 

Waste management and diversion are community-wide issues, which require community-wide solutions. We need all residents to recycle and compost. Universal participation in diversion programs is essential to reducing waste going to landfill and to achieve our goal of 70% waste diversion.
Research has shown that optional municipal programs cost more, have a lower participation rate and do not achieve the same level of diversion as universal programs. The utility fee is applied to all eligible households so that everyone shares in the cost. This keeps the program affordable for everyone.
Residents can choose to opt-out of green or blue cart collection and refuse their cart, however the fee will remain. Submit a cart refusal by calling Corporate Revenue at 306-975-2400.

If you are a single-family home and have a registered legal secondary suite (e.g. basement, garage and garden suites) on the same property that you’re not renting out for an extended period of time or has been removed, you can apply for a suite declaration to have carts removed. Call Corporate Revenue at 306-975-2400 so start the process for a declaration. 

The City re-purposes old carts to reduce waste and minimize costs. When a large cart (360L) is exchanged for a smaller one (120L or 240L), the returned cart is inspected, cleaned, and added back into our inventory if it is still in good condition.
We do understand that your cart may look different. However, this approach allows us to re-issue perfectly good carts to other properties, reducing the need for future purchases. During the city-wide cart swap, we received many large carts from residents who chose to downsize. Instead of buying new carts and disposing of the usable ones, we prioritized reusing the carts that are still in excellent condition. Rest assured, all reissued carts meet our standards for quality and cleanliness. 

• If possible, keep your carts in the shade, and ensure the lids arefully closed. Every once and a while, give the inside of your carts a rinse.
• Wash your carts periodically with mild soap or a vinegar-water solution. Pour soapy water onto grass or gravel. Do not pour soapy water down outside drains. 

Green Cart:

• Line the bottom of your kitchen catcher with newspaper to absorb moisture or use a BPI-certified compostable bag.
• Cleaning your kitchen pail frequently can also help reduce odours and insects.
• Sprinkle baking soda or vinegar in your kitchen catcher or directly into your Green Cart to help reduce smells.