It was back in October that Loraas Disposal Services indicated to the City of Moose Jaw that it will no longer accept plastic clamshell containers labelled as #1 and film plastic including plastic bags and starch wrap as part of the City’s current recycling program.

In the contract between the City and Loraas, it is stated that Loraas may alter what materials it does and does not accept based on the intake options available throughout the globally interconnected recycling industry, which has been in some turmoil since 2017.

"It's been happening numerous places," said communications manager for the City of Moose Jaw, Craig Hemingway. "Moose Jaw has come to this later than other communities like Regina and Saskatoon." 

In a report supplied by the Department of Engineering Services to City Council dated August 19, 2019, it’s stated that these types of plastics are no longer recyclable through Loraas because of a “fair amount of turmoil” in the recycling industry worldwide which has had a "significant global impact on the entire industry,” the report states.

“The economy for recycling products worldwide is in a state of flux,” said Josh Mickleborough, director of engineering services, “and it's safe to say that those commodity prices are much lower than when we entered into the contract.”

Up until 2017, China had been the largest receiver of recyclable materials from North America, but that changed when the country banned 24 types of waste products, including certain types of plastic and paper.

“Loraas is trying to reduce the amount of stuff they're taking in because they're having trouble selling what stuff they still take in," said Councillor Brian Swanson in October. "Who blames Malaysia and China for saying ‘we're fed up taking all your waste; it's no good for us’? We should, as a continent, be ashamed that we're willing to dispose of our waste that way.”

The City of Moose Jaw renewed their contract with Loraas Disposal on Oct. 1, 2015. The Engineering Department has estimated that the cost to dispose of garbage is $0.18/kg and the cost to recycle is $0.74/kg.

Also written in the engineering report, solid waste tonnage collected in garbage has decreased over the last three years. Close to 8,000 tonnes were collected and disposed of at the City landfill in 2018. Through 2019, the total is down 6.9 percent through the first six months of this year. Recycling tonnage has increased 0.2 percent over three years of collection, from 1,341.4 tonnes to 1,344.4 tonnes per year.

Here's what you can still recycle in your blue bin:

– Cardboard boxes
– Plastics (Numbers 1-7 EXCEPT plastic #1 clamshell containers, plastic wrap and single-use
plastic shopping bags)
– Unbroken glass
– Aluminum and tin cans
– Juice and milk cartons.