Some in Saskatoon 'flat out' refusing delivery of city's new green waste bins

Some Saskatoon residents have been refusing to accept the green carts when they’re delivered by the city, but that won’t save them from a monthly fee.

During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Ward 9 Councillor Bev Dubois raised the issue with the general manager utilities and environment division, Angela Gardiner. Dubois said she had been hearing from residents who don’t want to participate in the program.

“There have been some situations where the resident is home when the bin is delivered. And they have flat out refused the cart,” Gardiner told council.

“We're not going to force it on people and we will take it or leave it in the truck or put it back in the truck. But we do try to encourage people to, you know, give it a chance, try it out.”

Gardiner also said the green cart program fee was mandatory whether residents participate or not.

“It's a mandatory fee that will be on the utility bill, so even if they don't want to participate in the program, they still will be charged for that so that is for primarily for single-family homes.”

Dubois also raised the question about charges for townhomes and condos.

“We have made provisions and council provided direction for smaller bin sizes. But we're also hearing that in some cases they just don't need that many carts. They still want to participate, but they don't have the space,” Gardiner said. “We're working through those on a case-by-case basis and reviewing the specific situations.”

“So there is a possibility that they could have less carts, but each person would still pay the $6.73 a month regardless of how many carts they have,” Dubois asked.

“Yes, that's correct,” Gardiner responded.

During the meeting, Gardiner defended the program and said the city was giving it a trial run for the next few months.

“We want people to go through this first kind of season through the summer, get a feel for it and whatnot. And then we will be developing a program for people who continue to not want the cart.”

She said the program could reduce over 50 per cent of waste currently discarded in the black bins.

“Really at the end of the day, the issue of waste diversion is a community issue that we all need to work through.”