(File photo/CKOM news staff)

By Angela Brown

Focus On Recycling

City looks at challenges for landlords dealing with recycling

Aug 2, 2020 | 5:00 PM

North Battleford lawmakers are looking at how landlords and their tenants manage recycling as well as whether it is possible to opt out of the recycling program.

The issue was discussed after council received feedback from some landlords enquiring whether it was possible for property owners to have the option of not participating in the recycling program. City administration examined the financial impact of the proposal.

Director of operations Stewart Schafer said in his report if many people opted out of the recycling program it would likely affect the city’s contract rate with Loraas Environmental Services. Currently the recycling program is based on 4,992 carts picked up and 850 metric tonnes of recycle material processed. The current fee for collection of recycling material is $2.60 per cart per pickup, or $67.60 per year, while the processing fee is calculated using $119.77 per tonne of recycling material collected.

Schafer indicated administration believes Loraas would likely request rates for the program increase to make up for the lost income if significantly fewer bins were picked up and less recycling product was processed as a result. As well the city would see less funding from the Multi-Material Stewardship Western (MMSW) agreement that provides funding on a per household basis. Currently the city receives $25 per household each year for the curbside collection of recycle material.

If council were to allow residents to drop out of the program, administration proposed as an option they be charged a minimum fee of $150 per year, so other residents in the program do not see an increased rate for their recycling. The amount would cover general recycling operational contract fees and help with future costs to construct the new landfill cell number four at the city’s waste management facility.

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Councillor Len Taylor was primarily concerned with rental properties for multi-family use, such as a four-plex with four bins. Landlords can receive high fines when tenants deposit material into recycling bins not permitted in the program, which can potentially contaminate the entire recycling load. He said “the landlord has no capacity to monitor this,” and may be looking at anywhere from $400 to $800 a month in fines. Taylor added it is “not efficient for the city to be ticketing those on a regular basis.” He questioned whether it is appropriate to fine someone who is not actually responsible for the recycle product itself.

Council discussed the possibility of individual tenants having their own recycling carts that can be locked, similar to commercial bins. So they would each be responsible for what they put in their blue bins, and no one else would be able to compromise the contents. They would remove the lock before the cart is picked up on collection day. If tenants were to deposit products not permitted in the program they could receive a fine for their individual bins.

On the matter of collections, it was noted that while the city can bill property owners through their property taxes if they fail to pay outstanding fines, the city cannot do the same with tenants who do not pay their fines.

Administration plans to gather more information to bring back to council in the future, including details on the collection process.

“Right now we are in an education phase,” city manager Randy Patrick said. “If we see grievous issues we will deal with them. But we are trying to do way more education than tickets at the moment, although tickets are an option. We are trying to put new bin labels on bins for example. We are trying to make sure people know these rules.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW