DAWSON CITY - The Conservation Klondike Society (CKS) closed the recycling centre on Second Avenue for a couple of days last week.

It's open again now, but a society press release - dated July 8 but not released until Friday - indicates that this, too, could be but a temporary reprieve for the cash-strapped operation.

"Conservation Klondike Society is in a financial deficit situation and is facing imminent closure," says the first line of the release.

The problem, according to the society, is the same one that has plagued other centres in the territory over the last year.

"CKS receives an operational grant from (the) Yukon government for its depot to handle and process refundables," the society said.

"CKS already receives the maximum allowance available; however, the cost of processing the volumes we deal with far exceeds our current funding arrangement. In addition, refund and handling fees have not increased in 15 years."

The CKS handles refundables and non-refundables at its location. It's all material that needs to be recycled, but the society only collects a fee for some of it.

"Combined with rising operational costs, including the price of fuels, the society is in an unsustainable position and is therefore unable to fulfill our mandate, which is to promote waste reduction and responsible waste management."

The release said the CKS has been attempting to negotiate a new fee and funding structure with the territorial government over the past 18 months, but notes that "these discussions have not been fruitful."

The CKS is asking the community it serves to help it continue to exist by letting the society retain the money it normally pays out in refundable fees. The press release puts it somewhat differently.

"We are asking recyclers to donate their refundables in order to help us through this difficult time."

Local awareness of the temporary closure seemed to begin at last Tuesday's local chamber of commerce meeting.

Aurora Office's Rhonda Taylor notified the group's monthly meeting that she had seen the three cardboard signs announcing the recycling depot's closure.

"That's a serious thing for Dawson," she said. "There was a lot of money poured into the reconstruction of that building."

She mentioned the public education the CKS has been doing, as well as the campaign to reduce the use of plastic bags, which has been successful in raising public awareness of the international problem.

There was general agreement around the table that the CKS does good work, both at the downtown depot and at the Quigley landfill.

Members were hoping that the whole thing was a joke, but that was not to be.