According to a report this past week by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the Saskatchewan provincial government is now ready to launch — on January 1, 2016 — a multi-material recycling project that will focus on paper products and involve collecting fees from businesses that generate a lot of paper and packaging, including paper based packaging.

Newspapers are exempt from the program for the first year.

The fees collected will go to a non-profit organization that will support the province's new Multi-Material Recycling Program (MMRP). MMRP is intended to make recycling programs more sustainable and divert more waste from landfills.

"I am pleased to announce the launch of this recycling initiative," said Herb Cox, Saskatchewan's environment minister, in a news release issued this past Wednesday. "After consulting with stakeholders, this revised program recognizes the challenges faced by small and medium-sized business and addresses the needs of our municipalities."

According to the government's release, the MMRP will be managed in Saskatchewan by Multi-Material Stewardship Western (MMSW), a non-profit organization that operates similar programs in B.C., Manitoba, and Ontario. That group will collect fees from participating business. The fees will vary depending on the business size as well as their production of paper and packaging products. MMSW will then reimburse municipalities for the collection of waste paper and packaging. The program has been under development for several years.