Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Published Friday, September 14, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A new report on what goes into Yellowknife's dump could have the city forcing big businesses to clean up their act.

Mary Jane O'Donnell, with Gartner Lee Ltd., displays the huge bag of recyclable cans and bottles her group collected in the first two days of the Solid Waste Composition Study in July. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

The Solid Waste Composition Study has wrapped up, finding that more than a quarter of what ends up in the dump doesn't need to be there.

"Currently recyclable material represents 31 per cent of solid waste disposed," said Bruce Underhay, solid waste facility manager, who presented the report to city council Sept.3.

"The commercial sector disposes of 80 per cent of that material."

In all, the $50,000, five-day study found that, by weight, paper and cardboard products make up 37 per cent of the garbage Yellowknifers throw out, while organic materials comprise 26 per cent and plastics make up 12 per cent.

Underhay said he doesn't know how much of the organic material going into the dump could be composted.

"That would take a whole study to itself," he said.

In response, Coun. Kevin Kennedy, chair of the Solid Waste Management Advisory Committee, recommended a three-tiered response: ban commercial cardboard from the dump, look into a centralized composting solution for the city and figure out how to enhance salvaging at the dump.

"These three are by far the biggest, fastest and most effective ways to move forward," Kennedy said.

The cardboard ban would start with large commercial sources, and later expand to the whole commercial sector.

Underhay said the report's numbers could have been worse; large companies such as Canadian Tire, Extra Foods and Canarctic Graphics have all begun recycling programs in recent months.

"This number would have been quite a bit higher if (the study) was done a few months before," he said.

Kehoe said he expects the Solid Waste Composition Study to be available to the public this week, with further public presentations on its findings in the works.