Yellowknife (May 14/03) - Northerners can expect to see legislation promoting recycling as soon as June and Yellowknifers can expect to begin paying for the amount of garbage they put out sometime this year.

Doug Ritchie from Ecology North discussed three things the city can do to promote recycling and three things individuals can do at a recycling meeting last Thursday. - Cheryl Robinson/NNSL photo

During a recent public solid waste discussion, Emery Paquin, director of environmental protection service for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development (RWED), outlined proposed legislation to begin a beverage container recycling program across the Northwest Territories.

Regulations will place refundable deposits on beverage containers.

"Revenues will be dedicated to waste reduction and recovery and will lead to community processing centres," Paquin said.

The NWT and Nunavut are the only jurisdictions in Canada without beverage container legislation.

Katherine Silcock, environmental coordinator of public works and engineering for the city, introduced plans for a user-pay system the city wants to implement in Yellowknife this year. The system will charge a fee per household for each bag of garbage they produce.

"This will create a financial incentive for people to begin recycling," Silcock said.

Silcock explained that by removing recyclables from their garbage Yellowknifers will reduce the number of garbage bags they have to pay for.

"We're currently losing money on the amount of garbage you put out," she said.

The current $10 fee for waste management appears on residential water bills. That fee will be re-assessed once the user-pay system begins.

Silcock said the user-pay system will start with a small charge, then the rate per bag will gradually increase.

"The goal is two bags per household," she said.

The city plans to create clearer signs on bins detailing what can be recycled as well as distributing news letters and pamphlets containing recycling information.

"We also want to combat the myth that we don't send stuff to Edmonton for recycling. It's not true. We do send a lot of stuff down South," Silcock said.

But Silcock did admit that glass is currently going to the landfill.

"The market value for glass is very low. In order for us to pay to send it down we would be losing a lot of money."

Concerns over people simply littering instead of paying for their garbage bags were raised by Yellowknifers who attended the meeting.

"Communities that I've talked to that have done this same thing have said 'yes' there is a problem at first," Silcock explained.

Silcock also replied to the possibility of people putting their garbage in bins that don't belong to them, to try and avoid a hefty fee.

"There are currently bylaws against dumping in other people's bins," she said, pointing out that business owners with larger bins may want to begin locking their dumpsters.

Apartment building residents were curious how the per garbage bag fee would apply to them.

Although Silcock didn't have a definite answer, she said in other cities where the user-pay system is used, apartment buildings are responsible for implementing the system and the building is charged on a per-volume basis.

The possibility of curbside pick up of recyclables is something Silcock said may occur in the future, after the user-pay system is underway.

"Obviously the public does play a part in this. A lot of it is talking to your councillor and letting them know how you feel," said Silcock.

During the meeting people were asked to break into groups and brainstorm three things the city can do to promote recycling and three things they as individuals can do. Groups came up with ideas such as easy-access recycling bins from the city and composting from home.