Mayor: Recycling changes coming in 2028

Posted on March 2, 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

By Marcus Day

Maple Creek News

Maple Creek households can expect recycling changes in 2028.

How the recycling landscape will evolve remains uncertain, although Michelle McKenzie, the Mayor of Maple Creek, believes the new direction will be away from single-stream recycling.

She said Red Coat Waste Resource Authority (RCWRA) would be taking over recycling in the town.

“Right now, there will be no changes,” she said. “But come 2028 we don’t know what that is going to look like …”

Her comments follow news that SK Recycles, a non-profit organization responsible for management and recycling of household packaging and paper throughout Saskatchewan, has started phasing in the full Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program.

Under it, producers – the businesses that supply packaging and paper to residents – assume operational and financial responsibility for collecting and recycling packaging and paper products in Saskatchewan. They will be responsible for the entire life cycle of materials, including their end-of-life management.

As it positions itself for an uncertain future, the Town of Maple Creek has linked up with the Red Coat waste authority, which manages and operates curbside waste and recycling collection in rural communities across Southeast Saskatchewan.

At its January 28 meeting, Maple Creek Town Council supported becoming an associate member of RCWRA, believing it would safeguard waste management in the community.

McKenzie said joining RCWRA was about being “good stewards” of recycling.

Councillor Tina Cresswell agreed.

“I just think this is a prudent decision because of the uncertainty of everything. We are at the moment up in the air about how this is even going to work that producers are going to pay the fees. Yes, the intent is there. I don’t know that it is going to happen right away. I don’t want to put our ratepayers at risk and have recycling bins not available, and this secures our blue bins as a program that we can use.”

In a letter offering membership, Duane Leicht, chair of the Red Coat Resource Waste Authority, explained developments in regional recycling.

He said in the first phase of SK Recycles’ full Extended Producer Responsibility program, cities and large towns with curbside recycling collection could choose between the “Community Led Model” and the “Program Led Model”.

Under the “Community Led Model”, said Leicht, the municipality maintains control over its collection program.

“In other words, those municipalities could select the collection service provider they deemed most suitable based on the factors they considered most important.”

Under the “Program Led Model”, municipalities would defer the selection process of the collection service provider to SK Recycles, said Leicht. This means the municipality would have no say or influence over who the service provider would be.

In Phase 2 of full EPR implementation, municipalities with curbside recycling collection – including Maple Creek – must sign up with SK Recycles under the “Program Led Model”, said Leicht. The only exception is for waste authorities whose municipal membership may select the “Community Led Program” based on their collective grouping.

“We believe that all municipalities should be treated equally, no matter their size and regardless of whether or not they belong to a waste authority. Each municipality should have the option to select their own collection service provider based on their own past experiences. As a result, we are offering this associate membership to municipalities.”

Leicht said the Government of Saskatchewan’s Solid Waste Management Strategy has identified six goals, one of which states: “Encourage regional collaboration to enhance the cost effectiveness of waste management infrastructure”.

“Locally based, Saskatchewan-owned waste management companies have developed effective, efficient programs through decades of working with waste authorities and local municipal governments. This associate membership precisely delivers cost-effectiveness. You will continue to enjoy the very competitive service rates offered by your current provider, rates made possible through effective, efficient, and comprehensive routing (waste, recycling, and organics in some communities) that has been developed and continually refined to improve efficiency over the past three years decades.”

Leicht’s November 18, 2025 letter, which was on the agenda at the last Town Council meeting, outlines features of associate membership of RCWRA: No associate membership fee, no further financial investment required; no ongoing costs of any sort; no requirement to attend an annual meeting, if so desired; and no penalty to rescind membership with 30 days’ notice.

The benefits of being an associate member, Leicht continued, is that Maple Creek, as part of a collective group of municipalities, will be permitted to select the Community Led Model through RCWRA.

It is likely, he added, that the town’s incumbent service provider will guarantee that recycling costs will be fully refunded via SK Recycles, which is the purpose of the EPR program.

“This will be accomplished by adjusting the recycling collection rate to match the collection rate rebate proposed by SK Recycles. In addition, as a participant in the Community Led Model, communication of service requests and other relevant information can be sent directly to your service provider, instead of through SK Recycles, as is the case under the Program Led Model. Furthermore, as an associate member of an authority, the exchange of data and information with SK Recycles will be managed by the authority and shared with you as needed. If at any point in the future, you believe it is in your municipality’s best interest to change to the Program Led Model and pass on the collection service provider decision-making process to SK Recycles, you may terminate your membership in the authority.”

McKenzie told Council that in March 2028 the multi-material recycling fund that the Town gets every year is going to cease.

“So, we had to look at what we are going to do for options to continue with our recycling.

“So, we decided to go with Red Coat Waste Authority, and they will then take over our recycling, and they will also be paying the Town of Maple Creek about $52 with what is coming to per residential household to collect our waste.”

Councillor Betty Abbott said there needed to be clarity about the implications for households.

McKenzie said no changes were planned right now. But come 2028, things could be different, although how different remains to be seen.