A report to the City of Saskatoon’s Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services Committee to be presented tomorrow (Tues), states that in the first year of the organics green cart program, the City’s waste diversion rate increased to just over 33 per cent, compared to just over 24 per cent in 2022.

The program is funded by utility revenues. This year’s utility rate for the green carts is just under 24 cents a day for single family homes which works out to about $7.29 a month and next year, it will be just over 25 cents a day, or an average of $7.78 a month.

A survey last October found that 71 per cent of residents are satisfied with the overall quality of service received since the roll out began last May. Eighty-two per cent of those surveyed say their green cart isn’t full on collection day, but during peak organic waste seasons, 29 per cent say their carts are full or overflowing.

Administration has four options for the committee: Keep things at status quo with year-round bi-weekly collection, reduce the frequency during the winter to once every 4 weeks from December through March, increase summer collection to once a week from April to November and keep winter collection at every two weeks, and the fourth option is a combination of the second and third options – reducing the winter collection to once every 4 weeks and increasing summer collections to once a week. Administration recommends the second option, which is reducing the winter collection to once every four weeks.