Public Space & Event Waste Diversion Project
The City of Saskatoon is working on ways to reduce waste and improve recycling and composting in public spaces and at events. Through the Public Space and Event Waste Diversion project, we will be launching different pilot programs to help people properly sort their waste when they’re out and about.
By evaluating how waste is managed in places like parks, sidewalks, transit stops, event venues and festivals, we’ll gather data to understand what works best. The results of the pilots will help City administration make a recommendation to City Council on next steps for waste diversion in public.
The project will focus on places where residents sort and dispose of waste in public, including:
- Events including public and private events such as fairs, festivals and parades.
- Cityscapes including parks, sidewalks, transit stops and multi-use paths.
- Facilities with public spaces, such as event centres, leisure centres and food courts.
What kind of pilots will you be running?
Following engagement with public and internal stakeholders, we have identified the following areas as high priority for pilot testing:
- Multi-stream waste management
- On-site sorting
- Smart Waste Management
- Compostable foodware
- Incentive programs
Why do we need to divert organic waste in public and at events?
This project aims to address a gap that remains in the Saskatoon’s organic waste reduction and diversion programming, which already includes the city-wide green cart program, regulations for the commercial sector, a multi-unit residential organics diversion pilot and the Compost Depot for public drop-off.
When landfilled, food waste does not become soil. Landfills bury waste without oxygen, so when it is broken down, it turns into leachate (garbage juice) and methane. Leachate pollutes our land and water, and methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that can escape into the atmosphere. Leachate and methane are expensive for the City to manage.
More than half of what we throw in the garbage can be composted. By diverting food waste, it can be turned into something useful – compost!
By diverting organic waste away from the landfill, we can delay or even avoid the expense of building a second landfill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce environmental pollution.
We need you!
Event hosts and business owners with public waste collection are invited to participate in our surveys and pilots. We need your feedback to help shape the pilots and gauge how they performed. If you can’t participate in a pilot, the next best thing you can do is to make sure you’re recycling (and composting, if possible) on site.
Not an event host? If you see a pilot in action in public, participate! Residents are encouraged to participate in pilots and extend their waste sorting behaviours from home in public. By putting waste in the right place, we can strive to achieve the City’s goal of reaching 70% waste diversion and extend the life of our current landfill.