With mandatory curbside recycling for single-family homes already in the bin, councillors will now turn their attention to outlining what a recycling program for Saskatoon’s apartments, condos and townhouses might look like.

City council on Monday evening is scheduled to debate the parameters of a recycling pickup program for Saskatoon’s 22,000 multi-unit dwellings (MUD).

There are five options on the table, however, only one represents the interests of Cosmopolitan Industries, said Councillor Randy Donauer, who supports the decision to award the not-for-profit company a contract where they become the sole processor for the city’s 3,500 tonnes of recyclables generated by MUDs.

“With this option, the city could enter into a sole-source agreement with Cosmo to be the processor of all recyclables from existing and future MUDs,” explains the report to council.

This is the only option that honours the Memorandum of Understanding reached in April to ensure that Cosmo, which lost out on the initial mandatory curbside bid for single-family homes to Loraas, remains a major player in any decision regarding recycling, said Donauer.

Under the current contract with the local company which supports adults with intellectual disabilities, the city is required to provide 7,800 tonnes to the non-profit until 2018.

“(Cosmo) has really led the City of Saskatoon in paper recycling for the past decade when no one else was doing it,” said Donauer, adding that he believes the bulk of councillors agree with him on the matter.

“I haven’t talked to everybody but my impression is that it’s the opinion of the majority of council,” said Donauer. 

If a sole-source agreement with Cosmo is reached, Donauer anticipates MUDs can expect to see a dual stream recycling program in place by the beginning of 2014.

“There are a lot of details that need to be worked out,” said Donauer who has spoken to Cosmo’s board members and executive director. 

“Option one is the only one that Cosmo sees as viable,” he said, adding that although members are not in full agreement with all the details of the program, they agree with the overall goal of it.

Donauer pointed out that if an agreement regarding the direction of MUD recycling is reached on Monday, the full details of the plan would still have to be negotiated with the city and Cosmo.

The costs of each option have not been estimated, states the report to council, but it is expected that MUD recycling will not cost the same as single-family home recycling.

According to the report, the cost to provide city garbage collection -- a comparable type of service -- to MUD is $5.85 per unit per month, whereas the cost to provide the identical service to single-family homes is $7.33 per month.

Other options that will be discussed on Monday include a city-managed voluntary recycling program comparable to Saskatoon’s leaves and grass subscription program; and a mandatory recycling program for MUDs that does not dictate how that program will run and who the contract will be awarded to.

To learn more about MUD recycling, visit The City of Saskatoon.