By François Biber

SUMA pushes for movement on MMRP fund

Feb 5, 2015 | 6:12 AM

Saskatchewan cities, including Saskatoon, will have to wait a little longer before the anticipated multi-material recycling program (MMRP) starts funding residential recycling programs. 

During the bear pit session at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) convention in Saskatoon, the delegation urged the provincial government to hurry up and roll out a program to help municipalities fund and operate residential recycling programs.

“We are the very worst in the country when it comes to diverting our waste,” Regina City Councillor Wade Murray said. “Let’s get to where we’re the best.”

But Environment Minister Scott Moe said the province would be delaying the MMRP to give businesses more time to learn about the program and to strike up a working group to help ease small and medium-sized businesses into the program. 

The MMRP fund works by getting businesses that produce recycling material to opt into the program as a steward. Those stewards then pay a fee for every tonne of recyclable material they produce to multi-material stewardship west (MMSW) who then hands the money out to municipalities to help them pay for residential recycling programs. 

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The program was expected to launch in 2015, but Moe said leading up to the launch, the province found they only had about 25 per cent of businesses signed up to participate in the MMRP. Meanwhile, feedback from small and medium-sized businesses making between $2 and $5 million wasn’t too positive. 

Moe said a working group will be formed in the coming weeks with a hopeful implementation date with partial funding for the MMRP by mid-2015. 

The City of Saskatoon recently struck a nine-year deal with Cosmopolitan Industries to deliver apartment and condo recycling services on the basis the city would receive close to $1.5 million dollars between 2015 and 2016 to help offset the cost of the program. With users being charged $2.51 for the service, user fees alone would not cover the cost of the program.

Delegates at the SUMA convention feared a further delay in the MMRP would mean cities would resort to raising taxes or raising user fees to cover the cost of residential recycling. The other option was to simply abandon those programs.

Back when the City was negotiating a contract with Cosmopolitan Industries, general manager of transportation and utilities Jeff Jorgenson said the City was given a good indication from the provincial government that the MMRP money was coming. 

However, at SUMA, Moe told reporters the province is only the facilitator in the whole scheme and the third party stewardship group, the MMSW, would be in charge of delivering MMRP funding to municipalities. 

The City of Saskatoon has yet to divulge its plans on how to cover the apartment and condo recycling programs shortfall in light of no MMRP funding in 2015. 

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow