The city is moving ahead with plans for curbside recycling pickup, but that doesn’t mean it’s a sure thing.

At its meeting Monday, council voted 5-2 in favour of proceeding with a request for proposals (RFP) on the program (with councillors Dan Boyd and Samson Hartland voting against), but stopped short of promising to implement it.

Rather, Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu proposed, and most council members agreed, on a wording change to the proposal that took out the word “implementation” and called on the Yukon government to work on the issue throughout the territory.

The motion that was adopted directed city administration

• “.... to proceed with a request for proposals for a private sector solution for the development of an affordable recycling program that includes both collection and processing services; and

• “The administration is further directed to work with the Government of Yukon for the development of financially sustainable territory-wide solutions for recycling.”

As Curteanu explained in an interview following the meeting, the previous recommendation may have left residents with the wrong impression by using the word “implementation.”

Many people she spoke to or who contacted her with concerns had been left thinking the city would automatically go ahead with a program.

Curteanu was quick to note that going ahead with the RFP allows council to look at exactly what the costs would be without necessarily committing to the program.

She realized there was an issue over the weekend and contacted Mayor Dan Curtis and city staff about possibly changing the motion. Staff brought forward the wording change, but Curteanu said she wasn’t sure how members would vote on it.

“We just wanted to add clarity,” she said, noting the need to deal with recycling in a more sustainable way that involves all parties from government to those in the industry.

The current system sees recycling processors in the city provided with city and territorial diversion credits – funds based on the amount of non-refundables they ship out in recognition of waste being kept out of the landfill.

Changes, including increases, were made to the diversion credit system after the Raven Recycling Society closed its non-refundable drop-off area for parts of 2014 and 2015. The society argued diversion credits were not covering the costs of shipping materials out.

The changes made to the diversion credit system, while more long-term planning to deal with recycling has been underway, are not sustainable, Curtis made clear last night. He noted that for 2015, the city is $80,000 over its $150,000 budget on the credits.

While the initial $150,000 comes out of tipping fees the city collects, the remaining $80,000 will have to come out of funds.

As part of the more long-term work on recycling, the city had a study done on the possibility of a curbside recycling program for those on the city’s garbage and compost collection system.

The program is proposed to be operated by the private sector.

Early estimates from the study suggest the fee for the collection would be about $15 per month in addition to the garbage and compost collection fees.

A private company, Whitehorse Blue Bin Recycling, already offers a voluntary collection program. Its approximately 800 customers pay $20 plus the GST per month to have their recycling picked up every other week.

In a presentation early during last night’s meeting, company president Fraser Lang argued the city should let the private sector continue working on diverting waste from the landfill.

“I truly believe the private sector can take care of this,” Lang said, stressing the uncertainty the matter is creating for his business.

The company has recently expanded into offering commercial recycling pickup, he said. However, the residential service continues to be the base of the company, and without that, it would cease to exist.

Trying to grow the business is difficult, given the city’s potential plans for a city-wide collection program, Lang said.

Banks, he added, won’t want to lend money to a company that could be forced out of business in the coming months. Nor would the company want to make upgrades if it may go out of business shortly.

Lang acknowledged Whitehorse Blue Bin may bid and win the potential contract.

But he also said there would be nothing stopping a larger Outside firm from bringing forward the winning proposal either.

Outside council chambers following the vote, Lang said that while he would have liked to see the city permit private business to continue to work on the issue as it is, he wasn’t surprised by council’s vote.

“We’re definitely interested,” he said.

Some preliminary work for a proposal has been done, he added, as the company was involved when the city started exploring the issue.

“We have the experience,” he said.

Local resident Cam Kos also made a presentation early in the meeting, calling on council not to proceed with the program.

As he pointed out, those who want to recycle are already doing so.

Those who don’t want to probably won’t – regardless of a program.

There’s already a number of residents on the city’s collection program putting waste into their compost bin and vice-versa, Kos pointed out, predicting a similar situation when recycling is added to the mix.

“I don’t know that the benefits are there,” he said.

Denise Chisholm was the only other resident to speak publicly about the program, urging council to move ahead with it. As is the case with garbage and compost fees, residents should be paying the actual cost of recycling, she argued.

“We cannot ignore the fact we have to deal with our own waste,” Chisholm said

She wondered about what could happen for future generations when the landfill is full if something is not done to divert waste.

“Our waste is not garbage, it is a resource,” she said, pointing to the use of compost, repurposed goods and materials that are recycled into other goods.

“The current system is not sustainable,” Chisholm said.

All members of council appeared to agree on that point, noting the need to keep waste out of the city dump.

While residential waste might only make up 10 per cent of what ends up in the landfill, Coun. Rob Fendrick argued the proposed curbside program could lead to a much-needed cultural shift.

“I feel it’s the right thing to do,” he said, stating his belief that it’s the city’s responsibility to oversee all solid waste issues in the city.

Coun. Betty Irwin, meanwhile, noted that moving ahead with the RFP does not guarantee the program will proceed.

“One solution may not fit Whitehorse,” she said, adding council needs the information that will come from the proposals to find out whether such a solution does or doesn’t fit.

The city has to try to find new answers to deal with recycling.

As Curteanu pointed out, without changes to how recycling is managed, processors will go under.

“We need a co-ordinated effort,” she said.

Coun. Roslyn Woodcock summed it up: “We’re on thin ice. Something must be done.”

Meanwhile, along with voicing his support and echoing the need for change with fellow councillors, the mayor also countered criticisms he’s heard from the public.

Many have argued glass and styrofoam should be included in the city’s proposed program. (Staff explained last week that those materials wouldn’t be, due to safety concerns with glass, the possibility of styrofoam blowing around and the high costs to ship it out.)

Curtis, however, was quick to note non-refundable glass taken to recycling processors already ends up in the landfill because it’s too costly to ship out.

Joy Snyder, Raven Recycling’s executive director, confirmed this morning that glass is not shipped out due to the expense. She noted it’s not cost-effective to do so unless it’s within an 800-kilometre (500-mile) radius of a glass recycling plant.

Glass brought to local processors, she explained, is crushed and usually sent to the landfill, where it’s used as cover. It can also be used as a sort of “sand” material such as the glass green at the Annie Lake golf course.

Snyder also pointed out that most curbside recycling programs Outside don’t accept glass.

She did note Raven does ship out styrofoam residents bring in and that even with a curbside program, they could continue to bring it into Raven.

Describing Monday night’s vote as “good news,” Snyder said it shows the city is sticking to its Solid Waste Action Plan.

While council made it clear that no firm decision on the program itself has been made, Snyder noted she’s hopeful the RFP will deliver a good price for the program and it will then proceed.

While Hartland and Boyd noted their support for waste diversion efforts, they argued the need to work in other ways toward that.

Hartland was clear in his support for the part of the motion calling on the city and Yukon government to work together on recycling efforts, but pointed out the private sector is already providing the blue bin service to those who want it.

Boyd, meanwhile, noted that while he is more supportive of the motion brought forward by Curteanu, he just couldn’t support it after hearing the public concerns expressed.

He also pointed to the need to provide the private sector with certainty around whether the city will implement a program.

“We should not stand on the ground any longer,” he said.

Following the RFP process, council will review the proposals that come in and decide how to proceed from there.