NUNAVUT - The territorial government decided to end its beverage container recycling pilot project as representatives said the costs of the program outweigh the benefits.

Bryan Hellwig stands in front of crushed aluminum beverage cans at the Iqaluit recycling depot he operates. The territorial government has decided to stop the recycling pilot project for beverage containers. Dec. 18 is the last day residents can bring their beverage containers for recycling. - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

The territorial government launched the pilot projects in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Kugluktuk three years ago.

The decision to end that program on Dec. 18 is based on results of the feasibility study and the evaluation of pilot project, said Earle Baddaloo, assistant Nunavut deputy minister of the environment.

"In short, the costs outweigh the benefit of recycling in Nunavut," he said. "Based on a 20-year life-cycle ... if we remove all of the beverage containers, we would only increase the lifespan of the landfill by two to three months."

Baddaloo added setting up the program is expensive, as are the shipping and operations costs. The department of environment report states it could cost about $18.2 million to set up the program in every Nunavut community, not to mention the operating and maintenance costs. And Baddaloo said establishing legislation to charge customers money when they buy an aluminum can won't solve the problem, as the cost of a can would need to be raised a "significant amount."

"Most communities lack the adequate facilities, such as heated buildings ... to do the separation and to collect these things. To set it up is the big issue. The big cost is to set it up," said Baddaloo. "When you look at beverage containers, for instance, they're inert in nature, they are negligible environmental impact created from these containers and they only occupy two to three per cent of the waste."

He added some of the major challenges are infrastructure, transportation, recycling legislation and the fact that the territory's small population will not generate enough volume of recyclable materials.

Bryan Hellwig, who operates the Iqaluit depot, said most customer comments he received since the government announced it would cancel the program were negative.

"It's disappointing of course, but there is not much I can do about it. They deem that it's not worth doing and that's their decision," he said.

Hellwig said he even had people call him holidays and Sundays, asking if they could bring their cans down because they needed the money.

"This program is more than just an environmental issue. It was a financial issue too," he said. "It put money into people's pockets. It put money into charitable groups. It was also an educational thing – schools were using it. It's sort a bit more than just keeping pop cans out of the dump."

Last month, Hellwig estimates 75,000 containers were returned and this year, they may be on track to hit 900,000 or 1 million returned. He added that this year the depot has already shipped out close to 45 metric tons of aluminum or about 12 sea cans filled with aluminum cans, not to mention the eight sea cans filled with plastic containers.

He said the program would have probably kept growing if it had continued.

"If there was a deposit program in place, I can't say it would be 100 per cent perfect but it would be another step towards getting there, so to speak," said Hellwig.

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