Regardless of how it’s dealt with – whether it’s dumped in the landfill, recycled or composted – waste costs money. And for at least 20 years, Yukoners have been getting a free ride thanks to the work of the city’s two recycling firms.

That was the message emerging from Monday night’s city council meeting as Raven Recycling Society supporters called for action from the city and territory in presentations to council.

The focus of the presentations was Raven’s Oct. 15 closure of its free drop-off area for non-refundable recyclables.

While Raven operates as a non-profit society, the city’s other recycling firm, P&M, runs as a private business.

Raven announced the closure last week, saying it can no longer pay for the cost of shipping the non-refundables and calling for a new funding arrangement with the city and Yukon government.

The two recyclers currently receive diversion credits from the two government bodies amounting to $150 per tonne.

However, as Raven officials explained earlier, that covers less than half the cost of processing the non-refundables, which range from cardboard to tetra-packs to milk cartons and other items.

Jacqueline Bedard, president of Raven’s board, was the first to speak at last night’s meeting. She emphasized that while the drop-off area will close, its other services, including the depot for refundable recycling, education in schools and paper collection, will continue.

A new long-term arrangement has to be made though to deal with the non-refundable waste in the territory, the majority of which ends up at Raven, Bedard said.

“These services have to be paid for,” she said. “Waste costs money.”

Responding to some comments she’s heard that Raven is looking for a bail-out, Bedard countered that is not the case, and that the society had to take action.

“We made a prudent business decision.”

She implored the city and government to solve the issue while also asking the public to write letters to both governments in support of a new long-term funding strategy.

The Yukon government is considering changes to its compensation program for refundables by adding some products like milk containers and increasing processing and handling fees.

However, Bedard said it’s expected those changes will take about a year to come into effect if they are approved.

And, as Raven executive director Joy Snyder added, beverage containers make up about 10 per cent of Raven’s processing.

Even if the fees are raised, there’s still 90 per cent of the volume that Raven has to pay to ship out, and “it keeps growing.”

Council members acknowledged the situation, but had little to offer in terms of a solution.

“This is a huge issue for all of us,” Mayor Dan Curtis said, as he also pointed to the many other solid waste issues facing the city.

He praised Raven for its work over the last 20 years, noting he’s pleased to see it’s looking for a long-term solution rather than a quick fix.

Veteran councillor Dave Stockdale, meanwhile, referred to Raven’s partial closure as one of the most stressful things he’s dealt with in his decades on council, more stressful than the controversy that came with Walmart’s move to the city almost 15 years ago.

“We hear you,” he reassured about a half-dozen Raven supporters sitting in the gallery, agreeing that a long-term solution is needed.

Raven boosters Cameron Eckert and Pavlina Sudrich asked that something be done to deal with the short-term situation.

After Oct. 15, P&M may be “swamped” with non-refundables, and/or the city’s landfill may be overrun with goods that could have been recycled, council heard.

“Of course, I’m willing to pay for (recycling services),” Eckert said, stating that his family has relied on Raven’s services for the past two decades.

Eckert is also worried the coming interruption in recycling services could have an impact on some who may get out of their recycling routine and end up sending recycling to the landfill.

As he noted, visiting Raven’s Industrial Road facilities each weekend often means seeing familiar faces and saying hello.

“It’s a real community down there,” Eckert said.

Personally, he said, he will be looking at ways to “reduce and reuse” in light of Raven’s closure of the drop-off bins, but recycling is an important part of his family’s management of waste.

Coun. Mike Gladish also offered up a suggestion for residents to deal with the situation after Oct. 15 in questioning whether Eckert will hold onto his recycling for some time in the event a solution is found.

Eckert confirmed he will do just that for as long as he could, but also noted that with a household of five, recycling builds up fast.

At times, the amount of cans, bottles and other recyclables in his house is a bit “embarrassing,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sudrich recommended the city “fast-track” adding recyclables to its curbside collection service.

She argued there could be ways for the city to present the service in a way that residents would actively participate.

The cost of collecting the recyclables, she argued, would be off-set by what the city would save in diverting the waste from the general landfill.

While the city currently doesn’t offer curbside collection of recyclables, the Yukon Blue Bin Society has recently expanded its curbside collection program for recyclables to include most major subdivisions in the city, with customers paying a $20 per month fee to have their recycling picked up.

The group works with P&M Recycling, which processes what the society picks up.

P&M, located on Ray Street, has stated while it accepts non-refundable recyclables, it won’t likely be able to handle the large volumes Raven receives.

In an interview following last night’s meeting, Curtis continued to emphasize the current system isn’t working, and for two decades, locals have gotten a “free ride” in terms of recycling.

“It’s just not sustainable,” he said.

He would support an expansion of surcharges paid at the point of purchase to deal with the cost of recycling later, the mayor added, similar to the surcharge Yukoners pay on tires.

While the recycling issue needs to be dealt with by all parties involved, it is one piece of the puzzle for handling solid waste in the territory.

A solution involving all stakeholders – the territory, city, First Nations, the two recyclers and the public – needs to be reached, he said.

After Raven’s drop-off area closes Oct. 15, residents may realize it’s a service that costs money and needs to be paid for, he commented.

Coun. John Streicker was absent from last night’s meeting.