Curbside recycling will soon expand to larger apartment buildings in the city of Saint John.

This is one of many recycling changes residents can expect to see over the coming months.

On Monday, council voted to have Circular Materials take over recycling collection next spring.

It is part of a new provincial program that sees packaging and paper product producers pay for collection and recycling.

Circular Materials, which collects fees from the producers, will secure a contractor to look after recycling collection, according to the city’s commissioner of public works and transportation.

“There are substantial savings if recycling collection is provided by others, including depreciation and repair of our equipment, fuel, tote replacement, and over time,” Michael Hugenholtz said in an email.

“There is also the opportunity for resources that are currently used for recycling collection to be reallocated towards other service delivery as well.”

While the costs are still being finalized, Hugenholtz said the move is expected to save city taxpayers between $500,000 and $1 million each year.

The pending changes will also eventually see curbside recycling extended to larger apartment buildings.

Currently, people who live in buildings with five or more units are not eligible for curbside recycling, which the city rolled out last fall. With the community blue bins removed at the same time, those residents have to take their recyclables directly to the landfill.

The transition of curbside recycling from the city to Circular Materials will begin next May, while the expansion of curbside recycling will begin at some point after that.