Curbside recycling program begins in Whitehorse next month

The City of Whitehorse is getting set to roll out its new curbside recycling program next month — and at least initially, homeowners will be paying for it on their monthly utility bills.

The city is currently delivering blue boxes and big yellow plastic bags for residents to use for recyclables such as cans, plastic containers, paper and boxboard — no glass or soft plastics — and put out for collection every other week. Different parts of the city will have different collection days, with the first on Dec. 3.

"It's very exciting," said Ira Webb, the manager of Whitehorse's solid waste services. 

"You know, I see it as kind of an evolution of our services and, you know, taking the next step to make it easier and more accessible to recycle — and to increase the amount of material that we're keeping out of the landfill."

Initially, the collection program will only be for single-family or multi-family units of up to four dwellings. There will be no collection from larger apartment or condo buildings, where residents will have to continue managing their recycling as they do now.

Residents who do receive the service will be charged $12.50 per month on their utility bills, which Webb says only covers half the cost of the program. The city is covering the other half, he said.

He added that charge is also only temporary until the territory's new extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulation comes into effect next year. 

At that point, Webb said, "our intention is to turn that curbside program over to private industry, who's now obligated to provide recycling services under that EPR regulation.

"At that point, industry will foot the bill and the residents won't be paying anymore."

Along with the blue boxes and yellow bags being delivered this month, residents are also being given a guide for sorting their recycling and a collection schedule.

Webb says there's no limit on how much material people can put out for collection each time, so long as it's properly sorted in bins or, for large cardboard, flattened and stacked next to the bin. 

"As long as it's less than 90 litres in size, they [residents] can set out an additional container or two with materials if those two bins and two bags aren't enough," Webb said.