Opting out of Saskatoon green cart program not possible, says city utilities manager

If you’ve just received a shiny, new green cart in Saskatoon and you don’t want to pay the new bill or opt out of the program, that’s too bad.

It has been approved by city council as a mandatory program.

That’s according to Saskatoon utilities and environment manager Angela Gardiner during Wednesday’s Saskatoon city council meeting.

More than 60,000 carts are now being delivered to homes across the city before the program begins in May. Once the carts are delivered, each residence will be charged $6.73 per month on their utility bills.

During the meeting, Ward 9 Coun. Bev Dubois said she’d been getting inquiries from some of her constituents in the Nutana/Eastview/Lakeridge area about either opting out of the green cart program or refusing to take the bins as they were being delivered altogether.

“That’s what a lot of the questions to me are about: What do (residents) do if they don’t want the bin? How do they get it back to the city? Do they still have to pay?” asked Dubois.

Gardiner said there were a few different scenarios the city was trying to work through with people who didn’t want to take part in the program.

“Really, at the end of the day, the issue of waste diversion is a community issue that we all need to work through,” Gardiner said.

In other municipalities, their experience showed there was also an initial pushback from some residents, she said.

“Once they actually see the benefits of it and what they can actually put in it and whatnot, there are a lot of people that kind of turn around, so at this time we aren’t taking any carts back,” Gardiner continued, adding the city wants people to go through the summer period first before potentially considering any other options.

“Then we will be developing a program for people who continue to not want the cart,” she revealed.

If some residents don’t want the carts, they’ll still be billed for the service, even if the carts are returned.

“That is primarily for single-family homes,” said Gardiner.

She also said some homeowners outright refused to take the carts as they were being delivered.

“We’re not going to force it on people. We’ll leave it in the truck or put it back in the truck, but we do try to encourage people to give it a chance (and) try it out,” Gardiner said.

Dubois also said she’d got a lot of concern about the number and size of carts in her ward.

Gardiner explained there were other options for people in townhomes or condos where space is a consideration and smaller carts could be an option.

The city is expected to work with a variety of condo boards or associations to mitigate any space issues.

“We’re working through those on a case-by-case basis and reviewing the specific situation,” said Gardiner. “Two properties might be sharing a bin if there’s that space constraint.”

An online map is available on the City of Saskatoon website to help households know when they’ll get their carts delivered.

The final touches on an organics processing facility are also ongoing. It’s expected to be up and running by May 1.