The City of Saskatoon is looking to crack down on illegal activity occurring at the City’s recycling depots.

The committee on environment, utilities and corporate services passed the idea to initiate a pilot project at the Lakewood Recycling Depot which would see the depot closed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. seven days a week along with the installation of a lockable gate.

Angela Gardiner, the City’s general manager for utilities and environment says the City is no stranger to introducing new measures or changes at its recycling depots.

“In the passed few years several changes have been made to the recycling depot program including the permanent closure of Meadowgreen depot, the relocation of donation bins at Lakewood depot, increased education and improved signage at all locations and the temporary increase to collections at the depots during peak usage times.”

The Meadowgreen depot on the corner of Witney Avenue and 22nd Street permanently closed in April 2021 at a cost of around $8,000 after the site had been a hotspot for arson, illegal dumping, scavenging and other illegal behaviour.

The committee also approved increasing bin collections to five days a week at the City’s three remaining depots and increasing site clean-ups to seven times a week.

The estimated costs for the restricted access and hours for the Lakewood recycling depot is $18,500 for one year. The cost for the additional collections and clean-ups is $21,000 per depot, or $63,000 for all three depots per year. The total cost for the immediate improvements recommended in the report is $81,500.

The measures will now make their way to City Council for final approval.

(Photo of the Meadowgreen depot in the spring of 2021)