Raven to restore full services
The Raven Recycling Society will reopen the public drop-off bins for non-refundables in mid-May, the organization announced this morning.
The Raven Recycling Society will reopen the public drop-off bins for non-refundables in mid-May, the organization announced this morning.
An exact date will be announced soon.
“We are looking forward to offering this service again to the public,” Jacqueline Bedard, chair of the Raven board, said in a release.
“We know people have been anxious to use our public drop off services again.”
The public drop-off has been closed since Oct. 15, 2014, when Raven officials said it could no longer subsidize the costs of recycling non-refundables.
The Yukon government and city recently announced they will be providing a “temporary increase in funding” through sliding scale diversion credits and by changing the payment schedules.
Territorial diversion credits will be reviewed again on Dec. 10.
“While we welcome these changes, we would like the public to understand that this financial infusion is not a long-term solution,” said Bedard.
“We need municipal and territorial systems that will target recyclables that are not currently captured under the Beverage Container Regulations (BCR).
“The City of Whitehorse’s proposed blue box program is one potential system as are potential changes to YG’s BCR and the Designated Materials Regulations. These are steps in the right direction.”
Raven board members want the public to know the decision to re-open the public drop-off includes a commitment to re-evaluate progress on long-term solutions and financial viability over the next 10 months.
“The diversion credit agreement will give us certainty until December,” said Joy Snyder, Raven’s executive director.
“We hope by then there will be new materials coming on to the BCR, a blue box system will be developed and the Yukon will be on its way to increasing diversion through a systematic approach.”
New staff have to be hired for the Industrial Road premises before full services can resume.
The society thanked the public and the governments for their support.
The other recycling firm in town – P&M Recycling – has continued to accept non-refundables at its downtown depot and landfill site since Raven’s closure.
Comments (2)
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Wayne on Apr 17, 2015 at 8:38 am
Raven re-cycling played this perfectly. They were able to go on strike, forcing YTG and the city to meet their terms. The threat of tax increases for CoW residents was enough to force the hand of all gov'ts. That said, this is the best outcome.
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north_of_60 on Apr 16, 2015 at 6:28 pm
Recyclable garbage is one of our biggest sustainable resources. Terminate the Environmental Sustainability department, it serves no useful purpose, and instead use that money to make recycling economically sustainable. We don't need a Sustainability Manager to waste our tax dollars on useless studies from southern 'experts' that merely state the obvious.