New provincial solid waste strategy announced to reduce waste production

The Saskatchewan government has announced a new strategy for dealing with solid wastes such as plastics, paper, and scrap materials.

Environment minister Dustin Duncan and the Solid Waste Management Advisory Committee developed the strategy as a starting point to creating a practical solid waste management system over the next 20 years, as Saskatchewan produces the second-highest amount of waste per capita in Canada.

“This strategy is about working together to address the ongoing challenges of waste management and to identify potential new economic opportunities for industry,” Duncan said in a press release.

Statistics show that the waste generated in Saskatchewan

is an amount equivalent to each resident producing 842 kilograms — or approximately 60 standard-sized garbage bags — of waste material yearly. Duncan called the current situation “unsustainable” and shared the six goals of the strategy to reduce the amount of waste generated per person by 30 per cent by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2040.

Those goals include:

1) enhancing education regarding the best waste management practices and the risks of improper practices; 2) encouraging collaborations to maximize the cost-effectiveness of waste management infrastructure; 3) encouraging innovative solutions to waste management procedures; 4) demonstrating government leadership on the issue of waste management;

5) providing an efficient regulatory system for waste disposal and management;

6) and enhancing waste diversion across the province. Dedication and innovative local solutions across the province will be needed to help meet these targets, said the press release, as is more education for Saskatchewan residents to be able to make informed waste management decisions.

More details on the Solid Waste Management Strategy are available on the province’s website.