Coming up on Tuesday, City Administration will be presenting an approval report to the Environment, Utilities and Corporate Service Committee to seek federal funding for a city-owned organics processing facility. Originally, Green Prairie Environmental was awarded the contract to process the organics from Saskatoon’s residential organics program, but the City says GPE hasn’t been able to fulfill its obligations, so a new long-term strategy for processing curbside organics is needed.
Since May 1st when the organics program launched, more than 17,000 tonnes of organic waste have been diverted from the landfill. It is being composted by interim processing contractor, Loraas.
Administration is recommending an application to the federal government’s Low Carbon Economy Challenge Fund, which would cover up to half of the costs if approved. Director of Water & Waste Operations, Brendan Lemke, says having a city-owned facility could also mean lower processing costs compared to a third-party contract.