Waste management a big issue facing Yukon communities

Community leaders meeting in Haines Junction over the weekend say dealing with waste is one of the biggest challenges facing Yukon municipalities.

They agree waste management has improved over the years. 

"Not too long ago the answer to everything was burn it," says Currie Dixon, Yukon's community services minister.

But participants at the annual meeting of the Association of Yukon Communities agree a long term waste management plan is needed. They talked about how to work together more effectively on this issue.  

Dixon says the Yukon government is moving toward more regional landfills. Watson Lake is a recent example of a community with a regional landfill and Faro could soon have one too. 

One of the issues for Whitehorse mayor Dan Curtis is that all recyclables from the communities are processed in Whitehorse. 

He says other mayors realize Whitehorse taxpayers shouldn't bear the brunt of recycling for the entire territory. 

"It puts tremendous pressure on the city of Whitehorse," says Curtis, who is pushing for a long term solution. 

"We have a short-terms plan right now, it's not sustainable, it's not going to go on forever."

Wayne Potoroka, mayor of Dawson City and AYC president, says every community has an issue with the speed at which landfills are filling up. 

"We all have to do a better job of that, because it will really start to cost us money if we have to start digging new holes in the ground to throw trash into," he says. 

Curtis says the territory, with its deeper pockets, should "step up" to take some of the load off municipalities.