YELLOWKNIFE - The city will go ahead and hire a consultant to study trash going into the dump, even though some city councillors say the subject has been studied enough.

Council debated whether to kill the request for proposals for the two-part, $50,000 study during a committee meeting last Monday.

John Kavanagh, owner of Yellowknife's Canadian Tire store, shows where cardboard goes to be compacted and processed for recycling. He says the store is saving money since it began putting cardboard aside last September. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo Waste Stream Facts Bales of recycling processed at landfill: 2005 -- 734; 2006 - 1045 Bales of cardboard, newspaper, and boxboard: 2005 - 224; 2006 - 763 Residential waste to landfill (tonnes): 2005 - 2,297; 2006 - 1,820 Multi-family units and small commercial (tonnes): 2005 - 5,928; 2006 - 5,556 Grocery stores and amount of waste landfilled Stores that practise recycling About 300,000-kilograms in 2006, a 12 per cent decrease from 2005, equaling 68,288-kilograms less garbage Stores that don't recycle About 600,000-kilograms in 2006, a one per cent increase from 2005, equaling 9,558-kilograms more garbage Department stores and amount of waste landfilled: Stores that practise recycling Less than 100,000-kilograms in 2006 - a 13 per cent decrease from 2005, equaling 18,100-kilograms less garbage Stores that don't recycle Nearly 300,000-kilograms in 2006 - an eight per cent increase from 2005, equaling 37,182-kilograms more in garbage

The first part will look at the composition of waste going to the dump, while the second part will examine options to divert waste from the landfill, including curbside recycling.

Coun. Shelagh Montgomery said last week's presentation by the city's Public Works department on the city's waste stream appeared to indicate that the city already has a good idea of what sort of materials make up the trash going into the dump.

The money for the survey should go elsewhere such as a pilot curbside recycling program, said Montgomery.

"I think having a pilot project in a neighbourhood you could probably assess pretty well what the possibilities are," said Montgomery.

"I don't see why our waste would be fantastically different from what's produced down south."

During a Public Works presentation two weeks ago, council was shown a photograph from inside the landfill baling facility that showed piles and piles of cardboard mixed with ordinary household garbage.

"Any study that you read shows cardboard is 35 to 40 per cent of your waste stream," said Bruce Underhay, manager of the city's solid waste facility.

Montgomery came close to convincing fellow councillors to cancel the study - even though it was already approved for this year's budget - but fell one vote short.

Two other councilllors, David Wind, and Dave McCann, agreed with her.

"I have a problem with over-studying a problem," said Wind.

"I think we have a handle of what's in our garbage."

Other councillors: Paul Falvo, Bob Brooks, and Lydia Bardak, noted that the deadline for the tender request was only 11 days away (March 23), and that it would be unfair to consultants bidding on the study to yank it away under such short notice.

Brooks said he wasn't bothered by proceeding, pointing out that money for the study is coming from the federal government's Green Municipal Fund and not from ratepayers.

"If we're getting the money from somewhere else, I say use it," said Brooks.

Coun. Kevin Kennedy initially appeared to support the idea of killing the study, but ultimately voted to keep it going.

Public Works' presentation showed a number of improvements with the city's recycling efforts since dump user fees and reduced curbside bag limits came into force in January 2006.

In 2006, the landfill received about 500 tonnes less in residential waste than in 2005. The amount of material diverted for recycling also went up to 1,045 bales in 2006, from 734 bales in 2005.

But cardboard from apartments, grocery and large retail stores is still an issue.

Some, such as the city's Canadian Tire store and Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op are setting aside cardboard for recycling, but others have yet to buy into it.

John Kavanagh, owner of Canadian Tire, said he has noticed big savings since implementing a cardboard recycling program last September.

"(City) tipping fees are less for a load of cardboard than a load of mixed garbage," said Kavanagh, who also sits on the city solid waste committee.

"Secondly, it's just the right thing to do."