Environment Minister Dustin Duncan released a new Solid Waste Management Strategy for the province last week. The aim of this new strategy is to act as a starting point to provide a practical and sustainable system for solid waste in order to achieve goals over the next 20 years. Saskatchewan produces the second-highest amount of waste per capita, an amount of 842 kilograms per resident of the province

“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.  “This is important because the status quo is unsustainable and the province needs a comprehensive and strategic action plan to address the unique challenges posed by solid waste management.”

The intent of this new program is to reduce the amount of waste produced per person by 30% by 2030, and 50% by 2040.

The six goals of the program are to:

- Enhance education, awareness and technical understanding of waste management best practices across Saskatchewan;

- Encourage regional collaboration to enhance the cost-effectiveness of waste management infrastructure;

- Foster innovative and sustainable solutions to manage waste;

- Demonstrate government leadership in waste management;

- Enhance waste diversion across Saskatchewan.

They encourage every Saskatchewan resident to contribute by generating less waste, recycling, and compositing.

You can find all the details of the waste management plan here.