Recycling

Northgate Mall is a proud business partner of the City of Regina Waste Minimization Division. Working together to keep our environment clean and healthy for generations to come, Northgate Mall supports the program with the Big Blue Bins, the Glass Bin and the Tin Bin located on our parking lot; as well we have hosted the City's Paint It Recycled program. We continue to work together to promote new programs developed by the City to minimize waste and increase recycling in the Northgate Neighborhood and City of Regina.

The City of Regina first became involved in waste minimization and recycling in 1991 and several of our programs lead other Saskatchewan municipalities in terms of the scope of operation and weight of material. All City of Regina programs are supported off the municipal property tax base and do not receive funding from the senior governments.

Big Blue Bin Program - Residential Paper Recycling

This popular City program is a volunteer, depot-based residential paper recycling program which operates 21 Big Blue Bins from 16 locations throughout the city. In 2005 it collected 5350 tonnes of paper product which was recycled into approximately 81.3 million cardboard egg cartons and cardboard fruit flats. The recycled paper displaced the annual consumption of an estimated 87,700 trees. Collection tonnages have been stable in the 5300-5500 tonne range for the past three years. The trip generation to deliver this material to the major shopping mall locations is estimated at over 440,000 vehicle trips, with 38-41 percent of these trips being multi-purpose and the persons then going into the malls to shop.

Glass Bin Program - Associated with the Big Blue Bin

This program is not a City program, however, it operates in association with the Big Blue Bin contract and there is no cost to the City. The weight of glass diverted in 2005 was estimated at 610 tonnes .

Tin Bin Program - Associated with the Big Blue Bin

This program is not a City program, however, it operates in association with the Big Blue Bin contract and there is no cost to the City. The weight of ferrous metal diverted in 2005 was also estimated at 610 tonnes .

Tinsel Mulch Program - Diversion and Composting of Natural Christmas Tree

The Tinsel Mulch Program involves the annual collection, shredding, composting and distribution of an average of 75 tonnes of Christmas trees. In addition, the City collects and distributes about 300 tonnes of chipped tree material collected by the Parks division. Both materials are made available to the public in the spring and fall of each year to promote xeriscaping and the reduction of both water consumption and yard waste generation. Partners in this program included the Regina Area Girl Guides, Regina Food Bank, Industrial Park Rotary Club of Regina and Cat Town Wrestling.

Backyard Composting Program [Grass-cycling]

In 2005 the program trained another 11 Master Composters to bring current enrollment to 60 Master Composters - these are citizen-volunteers who teach backyard composting in their neighbourhoods. It is estimated this low cost program diverts about 2200-2400 tonnes of residential organic material annually. As residential organics account for up to 50 percent of the material from an average household, organic diversion by composting, xeriscaping and grass-cycling is very cost-effective. Promotion of the very easy option of "grass-cycling" began in 2005 and will also continue for several years.

Paint It Recycled Program - Residential Paint Diversion

NOTE: On 1 April 2006, the City's Paint It Recycled Program was taken over by the Saskatchewan Paint Stewardship Program with program delivery sub-contracted to SARCAN. Residents now deliver their paint to any of the 5 SARCAN depots in Regina. All Saskatchewan municipal paint programs have been taken over by this new provincial program.

The Regina waste paint diversion program was a free and voluntary program for residential waste paint. Paint was collected at six large events held between May and October on major shopping mall locations. The program operated with the support of 41 volunteer organizations and community groups and helped process an average of 2,000 vehicles annually at these events. In 2005 the Paint It Recycled program operated in 16 Saskatchewan municipalities including Saskatoon and Regina - Regina by itself accounted for 55 percent of the total provincial diversion volume. In 2005, this program collected and safely disposed of 37,153 litres of waste residential paint at a gross cost of $37,100. Unit costs were reduced from $1.47 per litre to $1.00 per litre in 2005. The estimated weight of the diverted paint is 43.86 tonnes. As of October 2005 the Regina program had diverted 322,000 litres of paint - enough to cover over 72,000 rooms. Good paint was directed to inner city groups for re-use.

GROW Program - City Hall Paper Diversion Project

No data is currently being collected on this program, however, it is estimated this program saves City Hall a minimum of $1,500 in solid waste collection charges annually.

Regina Landfill Asphalt-Concrete Program

This is the largest waste minimization program in the City and operates at the Regina Landfill. The volumes of material recycled at the Regina Landfill vary with the annual variations in construction activities within the city. In 2005 the Regina Landfill recycled 101,212 tonnes of asphalt and concrete [131,126 tonnes in 2004]. This material is re-used for road-beds and asphalt resurfacing.

Regina Landfill White Metal Program

The "White Metal" program involves the collection and recycling of major metal appliances such as fridges, freezers and stoves with the metal being sold to Wheat City Metals and then to IPSCO. The freon gas from the refrigeration equipment is safely extracted and sent for destruction to protect the ozone layer. In 2005 the White Metal program recycled 699 tonnes of metal

Rechargeable Battery Recycling Program

The City of Regina is in the process of setting up a formal partnership in 2006 with industry to strongly promote this waste stream element and reduce the amount of heavy metals going to the Regina Landfill. No data is available at this time.

ThINK Food - Inkjet Cartridge Recycling Program [Regina Food Bank)

The City of Regina is in the process of setting up a more aggressive program in 2006 and associated with the Regina Food Bank. Proceeds from this program are used by the Food Bank to purchase milk. Cellphones and LaserWriter cartridges from several businesses and institutions are now also being collected. No Regina data is available at this time.

In summary, in 2005 the City of Regina 's waste minimization programs are estimated to have diverted and recycled a minimum of 110,500 metric tonnes of material from our Regina Landfill.

For further information on these programs please contact the City of Regina.