Whitehorse pressured to start curbside recycling program, as drop-off centre plans to close

Raven ReCentre says it will give the City of Whitehorse a bit more time to make up its mind about a curbside recycling program before closing the drop-off facility in the city.

"Nobody wants to see all those recyclable materials going to the landfill. So we're willing to, you know, extend for a period of time in the hope that things will move in the direction that they desperately need to," said Jacqueline Bedard, chair of the not-for-profit Raven ReCentre.

The organization said earlier it would shutter its drop-off facility for plastics, cans, paper and cardboard at the end of the year. The facility already stopped accepting soft plastics a few months ago.

Now, the city plans a feasibility study on a residential curbside recycling program, and Raven is willing to wait to see what happens. A tender for the feasibility study was posted last week, and the deadline for bidders is Dec. 8.

Bedard says council will likely vote on a blue-bin program early in the new year. 

"Should the blue bin budget vote not pass, we'll go back to closing the public drop-off immediately. If the vote passes, we'll work with the city to ensure there is no gap in service while they work to get their system up and running," she said. 

City estimates $2.2M in annual costs

A news release from the city last week says the feasability study "will help identify local interest and the capacity of local businesses to provide services to support a curbside program should it proceed."

It says such a program is expected to cost about $960,000 to purchase recycling containers, and then about $2.2 million annually for the collection and processing of recyclables.

In a statement, Mayor Laura Cabott acknowledged that Raven's plan has "forced the city to find a viable alternative to support the continuation of diversion and recycling in our city."  

"Despite the time constraints, staff have worked diligently with experts and our governmental partners to identify potential options and costs," Cabott said.

Bedard, however, says the city has already had lots of time to figure out a viable curbside recycling program. Raven ReCentre has been pushing the idea for years, she said.

Heather Ashthorn, Raven's executive director, told CBC News the goal is to figure out a new model for recycling that works.

"We were at exactly this place in 2015 and the city tendered out a contract for curbside and then they withdrew it in the last hour. And Raven came back and said, 'OK, we'll be the public drop-off.'" Ashthorn said.

"We're not doing that this time. The city has to figure this out."

Ashthorn also said a curbside program shouldn't cost taxpayers more money. She points to the territory's plans to move toward an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) funding model for recycling programs, which puts the financial responsibility on companies that produce waste in the territory.

"We really want to see the city develop this curbside program and then hand that bill over to the producers — Walmart, Canadian Tire, you name it, the big corporations," she said.

"They need to be held accountable for the cost of this system."