SortSmart Education Program

Win with the SortSmart Rewards Program

Get rewarded for doing the right thing! The SortSmart Rewards Program is designed to recognize and reward residents who are helping to divert materials from the landfill.

How to Participate

There are two ways you can enter to win:

1 - The SortSmart Curbside Rewards

The City of Regina has restarted the SortSmart Curbside Education initiative with a new exciting reward opportunity. This initiative will run from July 2025 to December 2025 and from January 2026 to June 2026.

It involves equipping two recycling trucks and one food and yard waste truck with automated AI technology. This technology captures images of items placed in carts that don’t belong, such as film plastics or foam packaging in the recycling cart. Residents will be sent a postcard with images of the unacceptable items found in their cart.

• If you do not receive a postcard within the last two months of each six-month study period, you will automatically be entered into a giveaway.
• Five winners in each 6-month cycle (10 total) will be randomly selected to receive a waste utility fee rebate, applied directly to their utility account. These rebates can be up to $280.70, depending on the cart size.
• The draws will occur on December 31, 2025, and June 30, 2026, with the rebate applied to the winners' accounts the following month.
• All winners will be contacted by mail. See the Official Rules and Regulations in the related document section for more details.

2 - The SortSmart Depot Rewards

Residents dropping off eligible materials at local depots can scan the on-site QR code to enter a contest to win a quarterly prize! Prizes are provided by the City of Regina, SARCAN and Protex Environmental.

Participating depots:

• SARCAN Recycling Depots locations in Regina. You can find exact locations on the SARCAN website.
• The Yard Waste Depot
• Household Hazardous Materials Depot

Two prizes will be drawn each quarter, closing at 7 p.m. on September 30, 2025, December 31, 2025, March 31, 2026 and June 30, 2026. The quarterly prizes include an electric leaf blower, electric shovel, rain barrel and an electric mulching mower. Winners will be contacted. See the Official Rules and Regulations in the related document section for more details.

Did you receive a postcard in the mail?

Avoid common recycling and composting mistakes. It’s important to only put acceptable items in your green and blue carts. The wrong items can reduce the quality of good recyclables and compostables and damage sorting equipment. Please refer to your mail card to see what items don’t belong in your green or blue cart.

Don’t forget to check the Waste Wizard tool to find out where to put your household waste items. Simply type in the item into the search box and it will tell you which cart or drop-off location.

Will I receive a fine or ticket?

No, the postcards are for educational purposes only and do not come with any fines or tickets!

Waste Wizard

Type the name of a waste item and we'll tell you how to recycle or dispose of it.

Sort the right Stuff 

Remember the following: 

• Keep organics and recyclables loose in the carts. 

• Don’t bag or stack items. 

• Rinse your recyclable containers. 

• Layer wet or heavy compost. 

• Don’t let your carts overflow. 

Composting and recycling are worth the effort to protect the environment for future generations and extend the life of our Landfill. 

For more information about this program, or if you have a broken cart, submit a Service Request.

2021 Program Summary 

From August to October 2021, the City piloted a new automated technology developed by Regina-based Prairie Robotics to check blue carts. 

A camera installed on a recycling truck took an image of the blue cart contents when it was emptied and then software tracked items that did not belong. If an unacceptable item was spotted, an “Oops” mailout was delivered to the household regarding the incorrect item(s) with helpful tips. 

By checking blue carts, the program hoped to: 

• Encourage proper sorting 

• Gather information on common mistakes 

The 2021 CartSmart education program has successfully wrapped up with an additional 9,875 households receiving sorting feedback thanks to the use of new automated technology. A total of 11,875 households' blue carts were checked over several collection weeks. 

Here is a look at the results: 

• 22.7% of households sorted their recyclables correctly 

• 77.3% of households had unacceptable items in their blue carts, receiving an “Oops” mailer 

• 41.5% made improvements after receiving the “Oops” mailer. 

We compiled a list of the top three common items found in the recycling carts that don’t belong. Please remember to put the following items in your garbage cart: 

• 31% clear plastic bags or film 

• 26.8% plastic checkout bags 

• 15.2% styrofoam