Inuvik (Aug 22/03) - Some Inuvik residents who've been battling hard to get recycling legislation passed in the NWT could soon get their wish.

Bill 22, the Waste Recovery and Reduction Act, has passed first and second readings in the legislative assembly and will face third and final reading this fall.

Ray Massey, president of the Inuvik Recycling Society, was in Whitehorse about 10 years ago, working for Raven Recycling, when the NWT legislation was first proposed.

Massey was called to Yellowknife to get input on the law then, but nothing came from the work.

"For some reason or other, it got lost," Massey said.

Now living in Inuvik, Massey, A&B Salvage and the society have been lobbying hard to get the legislation passed in the NWT.

Massey said with the refund, there is an "obvious incentive" for people to prevent littering.

"If you don't have a container refund on cans, why should people pick them up," he asks.

Although the refund price has not yet been set, Massey said the GNWT will likely assume the same policy as the Yukon, where 10 cents is charged for deposit, and five cents of that is returned to the recycler.

The leftover five cents from deposit goes to administering the program, processing, handling fees, transportation and wages.

Massey would rather see 15 cents charged and 10 cents refunded, to provide further incentive for recycling.

"In most jurisdictions, you only get a nickel back, but I'm suggesting the return rate has to be higher," Massey said. With the 10 cent refund, he expects to see 90 to 95 per cent of all cans returned.

Massey suggests that the cans that are not returned will provide 15 cents that could go towards establishing an environment fund.

"The first job for that fund will pay back the government for their basic set-up fees," he said. "The government has a real incentive to go ahead with this, because it's not going to cost them anything."

Massey said with every other jurisdiction where recycling legislation was set-up like this, the government was always paid back.

With some policies, the refund is a taxpayer-funded policy, where the 10 cents charged on deposit is returned to the customer, but the program is funded by taxpayers. Massey thinks the system should be paid by the users, not the taxpayers.

"If you don't use it, you shouldn't pay for it," he said.

He says the NWT system will be set-up much like the Yukon's, with a central processing plant and depots in all communities.

"Outlying communities will ship to Inuvik and we will do some processing here, before we ship south," he said.

The recylables from the Beaufort Delta would probably be shipped to Raven's processing plant in Whitehorse, because of road access, but everything south of here would likely be processed in Yellowknife or Hay River.

Since many of the trucks returning South are hauling back empty trailers, Massey said there are also benefits for truckers in taking back a haul of aluminum and other recyclables. Hauling an empty trailer can be dangerous on icy roads.

"They consider that safer for the driver, so it's great for everybody," he said.

There will be public consultation before the legislative assembly votes again on the bill and Massey said they may hold a meeting here this fall.

The recycling society expects the third reading to pass without debate.

"There doesn't seem to be any major opposition to it," Massey said.