City of Saskatoon says green cart usage is growing

It’s compost season in Saskatoon.

Two months ago, the city ended its green cart subscription program and replaced it with a city-wide program. Since then, the city said, cart roll-out numbers have been growing.

Although the city said the program is becoming more popular, it had a rough start.

The contract for the original location where the compost was to be disposed of in Corman Park fell through only a week before the city-wide program began, and some residents refused to accept the new carts when they were first delivered.

The city has said Loraas Disposal is now being used to process the compost, but noted Loraas isn’t doing the collections.

Since the program began, the City of Saskatoon said more than 3,000 tonnes of organic material has already been diverted from the landfill.

That’s more than half the amount received for the entire green cart subscription program in 2022.

And the city says that number is still on the rise.

In May, about 66 per cent of green carts were set out on the street for pickup, and by the end of May that number rose to 75 per cent. In comparison, the black cart garbage program typically averages 77 per cent.

The city said it’s aware of a fire that was started in a green cart, which was posted to social media. The city said it hasn’t received any reports regarding fires in green carts.

Organic matter being broken down during the composting process in the green carts does emit heat, but the city said compost would never get hot enough to actually ignite the materials that are approved for the green carts.

Some materials are not approved to be disposed of in green carts, which could cause a fire. Those materials include cigarette butts, batteries and explosives.

Currently, about 1.3 per cent of green carts have been contaminated and needed to be landfilled, the city said. The City of Saskatoon urged residents to only put compostable materials into the carts, because otherwise the bins don’t actually serve their designated purpose.

If any contaminants such as plastic bags are visible when the bins are rolled out for collection, the city said that cart won’t be collected, the city noted.