The City of Saskatoon is once again looking at ways to address illegal dumping and contamination at recycling depots.
Increasing collections to five days a week and daily site cleanups at the depots are solutions administration proposed at a committee meeting Monday.
Administration said they are also looking at restricting access and hours at the Lakewood depot.
“These measures have been successfully used in other municipalities to address similar concerns,” said Angela Gardiner, general manager of environment and utilities.
The city currently operated three recycling depots: Lakewood, Lawson Heights and University Heights.
The depots have posed a significant challenge to the city, said Coun. Hilary Gough.
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“I think in terms of the bigger picture in our waste diversion goals and efforts, I think the recommendations we have in front of us make a lot of sense,” she said.
“We had an accelerated version of this approach at the Meadowgreen depot and I think it is important that we take this step-by-step approach.”
Last spring, the city closed the Meadowgreen depot after additional measures failed to address ongoing illegal activity and criminal behaviour.
The city had placed the site under 24-hour surveillance, installed fencing and reduced its operating hours.
If approved by city council, the measures will be implemented as a pilot project, with the impact tracked and assessed at a later date.
Administration estimates the cost of the temporary measures at $81,500.
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