Raven ReCentre announces plan to cut recycling services in Whitehorse - Action News
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Raven ReCentre announces plan to cut recycling services in Whitehorse

Raven ReCentre says that as of September, its recycling depot in Whitehorse will not accept paper, plastic or tin. The organization says it's up to the City of Whitehorse to ensure material does not end up in the landfill.

Organization says it's up to the city to set up curbside recycling program

A pile of cardboard is seen through an opening with a sign marked, 'mixed paper.'
The Raven ReCentre public recycling drop-off centre in Whitehorse. Unless the City of Whitehorse launches a curbside recycling program by September, paper, tin and cardboard will be going to the landfill. (Paul Tukker/CBC)

Starting in September of this year, Whitehorse's main recycler, Raven ReCentre, says it will no longer acceptpaper, plastic packaging, cardboard ortin at its depot.

The organisation's director, Heather Ashthorn, says that thedecision will allow Raven to focus more on its zero-waste mandate and that the coming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations in Yukon will offer a more robust system for dealing with this kind of waste.

EPR regulations will shift the cost and responsibility of recycling onto corporations that produce the waste. The details of how this system will work in the Yukon have not yet been released by the territorialgovernment, but it is expected to come into effect in 2025.

"We really hope that there isn't a gap in service," says Ashthorn. "We don't know which way the City [of Whitehorse] is going to go, but we've been working alongside them and we will continue to do that.

"We're very interested in continuing to be advisors and partners with them as they build what we hope turns into a curbside collection."

The Yukon government has committed to investing $2.4 million over two years into the creation of a curbside recycling program in Whitehorse.

However, the city has stated itsreluctance to create such aprogram without a guarantee of long-term funding.

Environment Minister Nils Clarke wrote to the city on Thursday stating thatan industry group called Circular Materials has expressed an interest in operating an EPR program for packaging and paper products and that the organization is currently in the process of creating a detailed plan about how it would operate.

"There's no guarantee the producer's proposal will be fulfilled before then," says Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn.

According to the city, recycling will be discussed at next week's council meeting. Minister Mostyn sayshe'll be listening.

With files from Elyn Jones