Saskatoon recycling depots overwhelmed during holidays

At least two of Saskatoon’s three recycling depots were overwhelmed with garbage and cardboard over the holidays.

On Dec. 8, the City of Saskatoon released its “Naughty or Nice Recycling Advice” list, describing its holiday waste reduction and diversion campaign and encouraging residents to take their excess recycling to one of three public depots.

A photo shared to form website Reddit of the Lakewood Recycling Depot on Jan 1. (Lucy Wilson/Reddit)

That’s what Sutherland resident Virgil Nyborg tried to do at the University Heights public recycling depot last week. But when he arrived, he said he found a giant mess.

“There was just garbage and paper and cans everywhere, and stacked on the ground. Obviously the bins were just overflowing like crazy,” he said.

“So we just said, ‘Well, we aren’t going to leave our stuff, because we’re not going to add to the mess.'”

A post shared to an online forum also showed huge piles of boxes and garbage bags at the Lakewood Recycling depot around New Year’s Day.

Nyborg said he’s not sure why so many people were in such a hurry to dump their garbage at the depots, and why it ended up piling up.

“I’m not sure what caused this … Is this a city issue? I’m not sure who cleans this up, but somebody took some holidays when they probably shouldn’t have,” he said.

An interview request was made to the City of Saskatoon regarding the amount of garbage and recycling at the depots during the holidays, and whether the information campaign accomplished what it intended.

In response to a request for an interview, the City of Saskatoon sent a written statement from Dan Gauthier, the city’s environmental projects and protection manager.

Gauthier said city crews were on site to clear excess material from the Lakewood Recycling Depot on the morning of Jan. 2.

“The need for additional pickup and cleanup at the recycling depots is anticipated post-Christmas, and we do plan accordingly,” Gauthier said in the statement.

“Sometimes, however, the level of activity and quantities accumulating at the depots still surpasses expectations.”

Gauthier noted that the city can’t force residents to flatten their cardboard, but still encourages everyone to do so in order to help reduce volume and there’s space for everyone’s recycling at the depots.

Illegal dumping can also be reported through the city’s website.