Welcome to the 2011 Municipal Recycling Bridge Funding Program website.

Dear Bridge Funding Participants,

Remember that all funding will be paid in two installments and will be based on the metric tonnage (MT) of paper and cardboard recycled.

The first payment is based on the actual tonnage for the January to June 2011 period. The rate for the first payment is $25.00 per MT. In order to receive your funds, we require the following documentation:

• Declaration Form;
• January-June 2011 tonnage receipts; and
• January-June 2011 Receipt Submission Form.

The submission deadline is July 28, 2011.

The second payment will be based on the actual tonnage recycled between July and December 2011. Tonnage receipts for July to December and the Receipt Submission Form will be due February 9, 2012. Municipalities do not need to submit a second Declaration Form.

For detailed information, please visit "How the program works".

If you have any questions, please contact us.

We look forward to receiving your documentation and partnering with you on this program.

About the program

The issue

In early fall 2008, the market price for baled paper and cardboard recycling materials dropped sharply and quickly due to global recession, creating a severe threat to municipalities providing independent recycling services.

These market fluctuations further emphasized the necessity for a sustainable funding mechanism for recycling programs. Without a province-wide Multi-Material Recycling Program (MMRP) to share the financial burden among the product producers and consumers, municipalities are responsible for 100% of the costs and risks associated with recycling.

How this program helps:

Established by the province in 2009, this program provides bridge funding in order to ensure that at-risk municipalities can continue their recycling operations until the MMRP can be launched.

The Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) is one of three organizations assisting the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment with the administration of this program. The other organizations are the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres (SARC) and the Association of Regional Waste Management Authorities of Saskatchewan (ARWMAS). SUMA only administers funding to independent municipal recyclers.

The current bridge funding is scheduled to end April 2012.

Who is involved in the program?

SUMA is one of three organizations assisting the Ministry of Environment with the administration of this program – the others are the Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres (SARC) and the Association of Regional Waste Management Authorities of Saskatchewan (ARWMAS).

SUMA only administers funding to independent municipal recyclers. This means municipalities that are not part of ARWMAS and SARC recycling systems are eligible for bridge funding through SUMA. If you are not sure, please check the SARC and ARWMAS lists below.

• SARC List.pdf
• ARWMAS List.pdf

How the program works

Only municipalities that received bridge funding in 2010 are eligible for this year’s program. Please note that we are not accepting new program participants.

Funding will be paid in two instalments and will be based on the metric tonnage (MT) of paper and cardboard recycled.

The first payment is based on the actual tonnage for the January to June 2011 period. The first payment will be $25 per MT. In order to receive your funds, we require the following documentation:

• A signed Declaration Form confirming that your recycling service has been in operation since January 1, 2011;
• January-June 2011 tonnage receipts for paper and cardboard recycled; and
• A Receipt Submission Form for the January-June 2011 period.

The submission deadline is July 28, 2011. Once we receive all the required documentation, we will issue the first payment. It is the municipality’s responsibility to assure that the documentation is complete and submitted in a timely fashion.

The second payment will be based on the actual tonnage recycled between July and December 2011. Tonnage receipts for July to December and the Receipt Submission Form will be due February 9, 2012. Again, municipalities are responsible for submitting their documentation correctly and on time. The per MT rate for the second payment will be calculated in March of 2012. Municipalities do not need to submit a second Declaration Form.

Shared service: Participants will need to:

• Inform us as to which municipal participants are sharing in the recycling service
• Provide a Receipt Submission Form jointly
• Each sign a Declaration Form

The July 28, 2011 documentation deadline for the first payment and the February 9, 2012 deadline for the second payment still apply.

If your municipality receives private contract services, the contractor should be able to provide you with per MT volumes.

Estimated Tonnage Participants in 2010: These municipalities will continue to receive two payments. The payments will be based on the 2010 data. A Declaration Form must still be submitted.

Municipalities which must estimate their tonnage this year but did not estimate their tonnage last year: In the event that your recycler cannot provide actual tonnage volumes, then a contractor or mill has to provide you with their best estimate in writing. The estimate may be a letter or invoice that clearly identifies the estimated volume. A copy of this estimate has to be attached to the Receipt Submission Form and submitted to SUMA.

Please note that every recipient of the program is subject to random audits by SUMA.

Under the proposed province-wide Multi-Material Recycling Program (MMRP) to be launched in the near future, all municipal recycling operations should expect to provide actual tonnage data. It is therefore beneficial for municipalities to proactively determine their method of finding this information.

On the Receipt Submission Form, please make sure that the tonnage is clearly indicated on the receipt and that receipts are in chronological order.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

A Solution for Long-term Recycling Funding

The need for a province-wide MMRP

Recycling is a key component of a comprehensive solid waste management strategy in Saskatchewan since it diverts tonnes of waste from landfills. More than ever, the Saskatchewan public expects responsible environmental management from individual consumers, industry stakeholders, and the various orders of government.

Since 2006, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (MOE) and SUMA have been working to develop a long-term solution in the form of a MMRP to fund the recycling of household packaging and printed materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic, tin, and glass. The MMRP will shift the responsibility for funding household packaging away from a strictly municipal funded system and towards a model that hinges on the idea that those who produce, use or derive benefit from products should take responsibility for the full life-cycle costs of those materials. Put simply, the cost of recycling these materials will be included in the purchase price. Stakeholders in the material to be recycled will come together to form a stewardship organization to manage the recycling process. Similar and successful stewardship programs are already in place around the province for used oil products, scrap tires and electronic waste.

The latest update on the development of a province-wide MMRP

In May 2010, the MOE launched an initial public consultation on the proposed MMRP model. A Project Advisory Committee (PAC) was created to guide the development of a province-wide recycling program. Two SUMA board members were invited to be on the PAC and they have been reviewing the draft regulations for the MMRP. The proposed regulations will mandate the producers to create an organization which will operate the MMRP. Initially, the ministry hoped to pass the regulations and start implementing the MMRP by June 2011. The new deadline to launch the program has been moved to 2012.

SUMA’s position on the proposed MMRP

For many years, SUMA has advocated for a province-wide MMRP that would give greater consideration to the full life cycle cost of materials and share responsibility among those that use these materials. In 2010, SUMA was pleased to see that the ministry was ready to proceed with the development of MMRP and we thank the ministry for inviting SUMA to be a part of the PAC.

Since the May 2010 consultation, SUMA has shared several of our concerns through both the PAC and formal written submissions with the ministry. Our concerns can be summarized into the following four points:

• The MMRP Stewardship Responsibility Organization (SRO) must include representatives from urban municipalities, especially if the program requires urban governments to contribute financially. Currently, the ministry is proposing an industry-only board of directors.
• Urban governments should determine the levels of service for recycling and the MMRP needs to reflect that. Currently, the ministry is proposing different funding formulas for urban governments with different population size.
• The MMRP should be funded 100% by the industry and property taxes should be not be used to subsidize recycling operations. Currently, the ministry is proposing a cost-sharing program with industry paying for 75% of the cost and urban governments paying the rest.
• The MMRP must recognize urban governments are different and it needs to provide flexibility to accommodate the conditions on the ground. This includes allowing ICI waste generated in small urban centres to be included as eligible within the program. The MMRP as proposed is attempting to create a one-size-fits-all recycling system and it does not reflect the needs of urban Saskatchewan.

If you want to learn more about SUMA’s positions on the MMRP, please contact us.

Contact Us

If you still have questions after reviewing the information presented on our website or require further clarification, please contact us at:

recycle@suma.org

or

Che-Wei Chung at 306-525-4389.

The need for a province-wide MMRP

Since 2006, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment (MOE) and SUMA have been working to develop a long-term solution in the form of a MMRP to fund the recycling of household packaging and printed materials such as paper, cardboard, plastic, tin, and glass. The MMRP will shift the responsibility for funding household packaging away from a strictly municipal funded system and towards a model that hinges on the idea that those who produce, use or derive benefit from products should take responsibility for the full life-cycle costs of those materials. Put simply, the cost of recycling these materials will be included in the purchase price. Stakeholders in the material to be recycled will come together to form a stewardship organization to manage the recycling process. Similar and successful stewardship programs are already in place around the province for used oil products, scrap tires and electronic waste.

The latest update on the development of a province-wide MMRP

In May 2010, the MOE launched an initial public consultation on the proposed MMRP model. A Project Advisory Committee (PAC) was created to guide the development of a province-wide recycling program. Two SUMA board members were invited to be on the PAC and they have been reviewing the draft regulations for the MMRP. The proposed regulations will mandate the producers to create an organization which will operate the MMRP. Initially, the ministry hoped to pass the regulations and start implementing the MMRP by April 2011. The new deadline to launch the program has been moved to 2012.

SUMA’s position on the proposed MMRP

For many years, SUMA has advocated for a province-wide MMRP that would give greater consideration to the full life cycle cost of materials and share responsibility among those that use these materials. In 2010, SUMA was pleased to see that the ministry was ready to proceed with the development of MMRP and we thank the ministry for inviting SUMA to be a part of the PAC.

For many years, SUMA has advocated for a province-wide MMRP that would give greater consideration to the full life cycle cost of materials and share responsibility among those that use these materials. In 2010, SUMA was pleased to see that the ministry was ready to proceed with the development of MMRP and we thank the ministry for inviting SUMA to be a part of the PAC.

• The MMRP Stewardship Responsibility Organization (SRO) must include representatives from urban municipalities, especially if the program requires urban governments to contribute financially. Currently, the ministry is proposing an industry-only board of directors.
• Urban governments should determine the levels of service for recycling and the MMRP needs to reflect that. Currently, the ministry is proposing different funding formulas for urban governments with different population size.
• The MMRP should be funded 100% by the industry and property taxes should be not be used to subsidize recycling operations. Currently, the ministry is proposing a cost-sharing program with industry paying for 75% of the cost and urban governments paying the rest.
• The MMRP must recognize urban governments are different and it needs to provide flexibility to accommodate the conditions on the ground. This includes allowing ICI waste generated in small urban governments to be included as eligible within the program. The MMRP as proposed is attempting to create a one-size-fits-all recycling system and it does not reflect the needs of urban Saskatchewan.

Please click here to view SUMA’s responses to the proposed MMRP. For more information about SUMA’s position on the SRO, please click here.