Yellowknife (Sep 19/03) - One need not ask Ted Yaceyko twice whether he thinks recycling is important.

"I don't want the city and the playgrounds littered for my grandchildren to see," the owner of The Sportsman Bottle Depot said emphatically.

Having run his Yellowknife recycling business since 1972, Yaceyko sees first hand the benefits of bringing back one's empties for a refund.

In fact, he can flip through his receipt book and point out $50 or $70 refund amounts to customers who collect such empties on a regular basis from the city dump or on the streets. But what upsets Yaceyko more than not recycling empty bottles and cans? Quite simply, not being able to recycle more.

Cardboard is a prime example, he said.

"We can recycle cardboard and make more cardboard boxes. The trees aren't going to last forever."

But such a noble effort is a money-losing venture in this business, he said.

One tonne of cardboard is worth about $42.50 on today's market. "I can't afford to ship it because the freight is more than the value of the cardboard," he noted.

"In my case, I would be glad to take cardboard. I would haul about one tonne every two days of my own cardboard which I take to the city dump. "I think that's a crime, but I can't afford to ship it. I'd be losing about $300, $400 per truckload."

Bob McLeod, deputy minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development (RWED) is part of the standing committee's public review of the proposed Waste Recovery and Reduction Act to be introduced in the legislature this fall.

The act will ensure recycling of ready-to-drink beverage containers in the initial year of the program, leading to recycling of milk product containers in the second.

This act will also provide a system that can eventually expand to include cardboard, tires, plastics and computers.