Inuvik (June 27/03) - Bottles and cans that litter our streets and find their way into the landfill could soon be much more valuable than garbage.

The Legislative Assembly recently gave second reading to a bill that will see a refund offered for beverage containers. The new legislation falls under the Waste Recovery Act and will offer a refund to consumers.

Boot Lake MLA Floyd Roland is chair of the Standing Committee of Economic Development and says the next step for the bill is to hold public meetings on the proposed legislation.

"Once the public hearings are done, we report back to the house," Roland said.

An advisory committee will provide advice and assistance on waste reduction and recovery programs.

A new Environment Fund would be established, to be funded by surcharges on materials covered by the refund program.

"It's something that's been in the works for quite a while now," Roland said.

"Now we've got the government to actually move on it."

Barbara Armstrong of the Inuvik Recycling Society sees the new law as something that will bolster all types of recycling -- not just bottles and cans. "I'm very, very excited about it," Armstrong said.

She said money from beverage refunds could support the recycling project she began here three years ago and form part of a broader initiative on waste reduction.

"Essentially, infrastructure will be in place so we have a building set up, which ultimately enhances all our other programs," Armstrong said. "If we can incorporate cardboard and paper and all those other things, it will give the recycling society something positive to work on and fuel them to come together again."

Even without a bottle refund, the Inuvik project has been very successful.

"We're shipping out more single serving beverage containers than anyone else in the entire territory, including the capital."