Green Prairie Environmental defaulted on Saskatoon’s curbside organics program after it was not able to meet the obligations of the organics processing contract. On Wednesday, the city’s committee on environment, utilities and corporate services discussed what will happen next.
The city announced that the green cart contractor defaulted on the contract last week, saying that this won’t disrupt the current program.
“We are disappointed that the successful vendor was unable to provide organics processing services under the contract but are fortunate to have measures in place allowing us to pursue other options to avoid disruption of the program,” city director of water and waste operations Brendan Lemke said.
The curbside organics program was approved back in 2018 with Green Prairie Environmental (GPE) awarded the contract in September 2020.
GPE said it would create a facility at its landfill in the rural municipality of Corman Park. The facility was supposed to be operational by Jan. 1, 2023 but GPE didn’t get the proper permits.
An extension was given to GPE as they prepared for the program start date of May 1, 2023, but the company was still unsuccessful.
Disruptions to the program were avoided by having a short-term contract with Loraas Disposal North.
The report presented to the committee Wednesday said organic material will continue to be hauled to Loraas in the short-term for processing, but the city administration is also looking at options to haul a portion of that waste to the Saskatoon Regional Waste Management Centre and West Compost Depot, adding that approval is needed from the Ministry of Environment.
City administration said it is looking at two long-term options for organic material processing:
- build a facility on city-owned land that could be operated by the city or a third-party
- undertake a public procurement for a third-party to deliver the complete processing service
A full report on long-term options will be brought forward to the committee in the first quarter of 2024, with further reporting to follow in the second quarter.
This news didn’t come without some concerns from residents, as Barb Biddle from the Montgomery Place Community Association highlighted some issues that directing more waste to the West Compost Depot might bring up.
“We’re greatly concerned about the city’s short-term plan for processing organic matters there,” Biddle said.
She said the community is worried about what the city considers short-term and wanted more clarity on the plan.
Biddle said wind commonly comes from the west and the community would be subject to any smell coming off of the compost depot as a result.
“We have been told if there are odour complaints attributed to the operation, it is investigated. How soon would that problem be solved?”
She said they wanted the city to continue to use Loraas until a better option became available.
It was noted by city administration that at some point the West Compost Depot will need to be relocated in the future due to it being in an area designated for development.
It was also flagged in the meeting that the Ministry of Environment has standards for how far waste management facilities need to be from the nearest residential properties, which is set at 500 metres.
– With files from Brooke Kruger