New sizes of black garbage bins will officially be hitting Saskatoon curbs at the beginning of 2024 after city council approved the program change on Wednesday morning.
With only four council members opposing the program, city council voted to have three sizes of black carts available to Saskatoon residents, giving the option of two smaller sizes in addition to the current large bin.
Councillor Hilary Gough said she thinks the program will help with waste diversion and give citizens a feeling of control over their residences.
“We want to make sure that there is incentive and support through all of the bins to get waste into the right place that doesn’t need to go to the landfill and also feasibility.”
Mayor Charlie Clark said that the program might divert so much waste that it could potentially halt the need for a new landfill in the near future.
City councillor Darren Hill said he has been against the idea from the beginning and remained that way in his vote.
“Garbage was to remain on property tax and then suddenly three years later, we changed that,” Hill said.
“It’s a bit of a shell game, making the citizens of Saskatoon think they are not going to notice that we just created a new revenue stream of $14 million.”
Hill claimed the new cart sizes won’t achieve the city’s goals and won’t make up the administrative and educational costs associated with the project.
The current bins cost households a fixed utility rate of approximately $9.92 per month for a 360-litre bin.
The new options will include a medium version of the cart holding 240 litres and costing approximately $7.05 monthly, and a 120-135 litre bin for around $3.75.
The program will only apply to houses with curbside garbage collection. The program will not apply to multi-unit condos or apartments.
The size change requests will begin in January and the new fees would kick in mid-2024 after all of the cart swaps are finished.