Raven Recycling asks Whitehorse candidates about waste reduction

Raven Recycling in Whitehorse is trying to get municipal voters to think about waste reduction.

"Waste is one of the big portfolios," said executive director Joy Snyder. She said the recycling industry has faced many challenges in the past few years including low metal prices and the cost of shipping.

"We have a great system to pay for refundable material, which is the beverage containers, but there's not a system to pay for 90 per cent of the other waste that we process," Snyder said. 

She hopes the new city council will move forward with a blue box recycling program as a solution. 

Since 2012, the city has reduced its waste by 33 per cent. The goal was to reach 50 per cent by now.

Raven Recycling drafted questions on recycling and waste reduction and asked municipal candidates to respond. The answers have been compiled and posted to Raven's website. 

"It helps the voters," Snyder said. "It's really nice to see where candidates sit on a platform. You get to actually learn something about them." 

The organization also offered candidates a behind-the-scenes look at its facility. Seven candidates took the opportunity: Rob Fendrick, Betty Irwin, Micah Quinn, Samson Hartland, Dan Boyd, Jens Nielsen and Cam Kos.

"It's really efficient," said Fendrick, "I realize this is one part of the solid waste equations." 

Irwin noted changes in the machinery over the last few years, while others such as Kos and Boyd were surprised to learn about all the different types of products that can be recycled. 

"If you can give people an idea of what it's about, you know, on a real practical level before they go into office, that helps them," Snyder said.