SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Fridges, stoves, construction material, tires, paint and batteries litter the landscape of many Northern communities.

A container is filled with scrap metal from Cambridge Bay. The hamlet piloted an NTCL project last year, where the marine shipping company transported four containers worth of scrap metal south. - photo courtesy of NTCL

Without proper recycling facilities in the North, those and other items stay where they are, as shipping south is costly. The Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) is aiming to change this, with its environmental backhaul program, in which the company will cart away, at a discounted rate, containers filled with scrap metal and other recyclable and dangerous goods.

Cambridge Bay piloted the project last year, in which six people worked two weeks to fill four 20-feet containers - already in the community - with 15 to 18 tons of scrap steel.

This year, NTCL is trying to secure funding for four hamlets – Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Kugkluktuk and Taloyoak.

When Martin Landry, the manager of business development for NTCL, visited Northern communities last year, he said it was difficult not to notice the landfill sites were full.

"It seemed obvious that the landfill sites had too many things in there and they needed to be removed," he said. "Items have been accumulating in the Arctic for the last 70, 80 years and we've been doing a better job of bringing them in than we have of bringing them out."

Since people working to dispose of the materials had not received the proper training, Landry said Cambridge Bay was limited to pack scrap steel. But the International Marine Dangerous Goods / Transportation of Dangerous Goods training will enable them to pack fridges, stoves and dangerous items such as paint or batteries. He added once they completed the courses, each community will be able to choose which items to ship back – as the hamlets will get money back for some items but pay for the disposal of others. NTCL has partnered with Hazco Environmental Services to provide such training.

"We need to make sure everything is package properly according to regulations," he said. "It would be a nightmare for it to not be shipped properly because of the potential chances of things coming out of containers or battery acid not being contained properly. So scrap steel was the best item to do for the test project."

Cambridge Bay will likely participate in the training this year but is unsure at this point if it will ship back containers, as funding has not yet been finalized, said Derrick Anderson, the hamlet's acting senior administrative officer.

The containers are shipped through the northwest passage, around Alaska and south to NTCL's terminal in Delta, B.C., a 25-day trip. Hazco then properly disposes or recycles the items.

Hazco has also agreed to send trainers north for two days in each of the four participating communities this July to train up to 20 people in each community.

Landry said the training is open to both community members and hamlet staff, although the latter will have priority. The number of containers shipped back depends on the amount of funding available to them.

Taloyoak is interested in participating in the project, as the program will help it get rid of a lot of the large bulky items in its dump and landfill site, said the hamlet's senior administrative officer Chris Dickson.

"The Hamlet of Taloyoak is interested in finding a better way to deal with our waste, other than past message which are just stockpiling in dump yards and potentially burying it," he said.

But as the funding is not yet finalize, the hamlet will participate in the training and fill four containers, said Dickson.

"Four sea cans is better than none. It will be a huge benefit to us," he said. "We will be limiting the amount of waste that we're collecting long-term. Some of the large items have been collecting for years, if we think about something like appliances, for instance. This would be a great opportunity and a message for us to see the waste go to scrap sites as opposed to collecting in our community."

The Nunavut government will provide financial support for the project, said Darren Flynn, the acting assistant deputy minister with the territory's Community Support Services, but he wouldn't speculate on the amount.

"We are working with NTCL and with the two communities (Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk) that are involved in the Kitikmeot to try out," he said. "We want to see how it works out. If it makes economic sense for the community and for the government, we will pursue other options."

NTCL is a marine transportation company that ships merchandise to 22 Northern communities in the Mackenzie River, Mackenzie Delta and Kitikmeot.

Hazco is a subsidiary of the CCS Corporation group of companies that offers a variety of waste management services.