City of Saskatoon hopes residents dump black bins after green cart program rollout

With the green cart program just days away from rolling out officially, questions remain about changes ahead regarding how Saskatoon puts out the trash.

City officials say they've had questions like, can paper bags go in the bin or newspaper?

“The preference is, if it's clean, it can go into the blue, but if you want to line your small green bucket with this with a 100% paper bag, you can do that,” Katie Burns, Education and Environment performance manager told CTV News.

What goes in the new green bin and what doesn’t may take some time to master, but generally whatever you’d scrape off your plate can go in with the new program, which is different from the former brown bin program.

“All food goes in. So if it was food, like bones and fat, you can scrape your plate and containers straight into the bin,” Burns says.

With most household waste going into the green bin now, the city says residents may ask where does that leave the black bin?

“If you have a broken toy with a recycling symbol, that should go into the garbage. Items that are made out of paper and plastic and metal or mixed material still go in the black bin. If you’re not deconstructing it, then it should be going into the garbage,” she says.

A plan is in place to give residents the option to ditch the black bin as early as next year.

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“You’ll have a choice to make it smaller, and you’ll pay less for it,” Burns says.

It’s all about the green bin right now, with implementation starting Monday in the first neighbourhoods, then moving through the city for two weeks in the first round. While it’s the new hot topic, it’s been in the works in our city since 2018 according to Burns.

“We are one of the last major cities in Canada to roll out this program. This is common in jurisdictions across Canada. We know that 80 per cent of residents are supportive of these programs.”

Trash-talking aside, Burns admits there has been some concern raised about the extra $7 per month cost and the potential smell of food waste sitting out during the hot summer months.

According to Burns, the smell shouldn’t be an issue with pick-up happening every two weeks, alternating with the other bins.

Speaking of smell, pet owners should know that animal waste doesn’t go in the green bin.

Burns reminds residents that one full green bin will decompose in about a month because of how it will be handled afterwards and doesn’t produce harmful gas emissions like traditional garbage at a dump, which is required to be covered up by dirt.

Without oxygen, Burns adds, garbage doesn’t have the same ability to decompose because it breaks down anaerobically. That produces a harmful liquid. It’s harder to manage in that form, according to Burns who says this green cart recycling program is the best way to go to reduce landfill use and is the way of the future.

In the new process, the food waste will be dumped out and completely exposed to the air. It will be turned and rotated until it breaks down weeks later, the city said.

With days remaining until the official start of the program, if your little green bucket is still hanging on the side of your newly delivered green cart, it might be time to open it as there’s information inside along with a starter sample of compostable bags. Those bags aren’t necessary as you can just dump the waste directly into the bins. The bags just reduce the need to clean the bins as thoroughly.