Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Monday, July 30, 2007

IQALUIT - Iqaluit residents will be able to turn their trash into cash with the launch of a new pilot recycling program for beverage containers.

The Department of the Environment announced that a new depot will begin collecting non-alcoholic cans and bottles for a five cent return beginning Aug. 3.

The service, which will be located in Building 1324 on Federal Road, will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a break between noon and 1 p.m.

It will run until Oct. 31.

This type of collection is usually the first step toward a more comprehensive recycling program, according to Earle Baddaloo, the GN's director of environmental protection.

"We're hopeful that we'll be able to develop legislation and an appropriate recycling plan," Baddaloo said. "We look forward to the development of depots in strategically placed places."

Similar pilot projects are slated to begin in Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay at a later date, he said.

Throughout the pilot project, Baddaloo's department will gather information regarding the amount, type and state of the materials collected, and how the depots operate in each community.

The community is asked to remove drinking straws and rinse out the containers before returning them.

For now, the containers will simply be stored in sea cans, although Baddaloo said the collected materials could be processed and shipped south "if the time is available."

"Markets in southern Canada are easy to develop and recyclable material has a value to it," he explained. "In Iqaluit we have various challenges: the high cost of transport and no roads. Because of that it cuts into the profits that would be able to develop from it."

The pilot program will be administered by a local contractor, he said. No budget has been set for the project, as the cost will fluctuate depending on how many containers are collected, Baddaloo said.

Iqaluit's municipally-run recycling program ran from late 2001 until 2003, when it was shut down for financial reasons, according to Crystal Jones, engineering project officer for the city.

"The costs were astronomical, around $240,000 annually," she said.

The city still has two large blue sea cans with slots for the drop-off of cans, plastic bottles and newsprint. These are located on the road to Apex and by the Butler building. However, since the recycling program was shut down, this material goes directly to the landfill.

"We just use them as a way to keep the streets tidy," said Steven Iyago, operations superintendent for the city.

According to Gary Pon, a member of the solid waste committee which was disbanded by the city in early 2007, there is definitely some interest in a continuing recycling program in the community. He said he follows the progress of recycling programs in the NWT.