Residents who pay city utility bills may want to budget at least an extra $15 a month for the city coffers come spring as the municipality moves forward curbside recycling collection.

At Monday’s city council meeting, members approved adding another $100,000 – coming from general reserves – to plan out the details of a recycling collection program.

It also opted to sole-source the contract for the program design to Morrison Hershfield.

While the additional monthly charge to residents and pickup schedule would be part of the program design, the most recent study on a possible program estimated a $15 monthly cost to residents for weekly pickup ($180 per year).

Council’s decision comes after the Raven Recycling Society closed its depot area for non-refundable recyclable materials Oct. 15. The organization argued the diversion credits it receives from the city and territory do not cover the cost of shipping out the materials.

The other recycler in the territory – P&M Recycling – has continued to accept non-refundable materials. The Yukon Blue Bin Recycling Society is also continuing its curbside collection of recyclables which are delivered to P&M.

Blue Bin customers pay $20 per month for the service every two weeks.

In a report to council Monday night, Shannon Clohosey, the city’s sustainability manager, noted: “Since the announcement from Raven Recycling of the closure of their public drop-off for non-refundables, mayor and council and administration have heard from many members of the public concerned about the future of recycling in Yukon.

“Whitehorse residents are strong supporters of waste diversion efforts and are keen to do their part to increase recycling.”

The report also cited a recently completed study, scheduled to be on the city’s website sometime today, on the costs and potential for a residential recycling collection service in the city.

Such a program would be paid for by users – similar to garbage and compost pickup where residents are charged for the service on their utility bills – which would “ensure a revenue source to the recycling processors for the materials that are collected. It would also provide a convenient method for residents to divert more waste.”

Before going ahead with a collection service, Clohosey said, “a number of decisions have to be made.”

Those include what materials would be accepted, how the service would be procured, a refinement of costs, the level of service, capital and operational requirements and the impact of involvement of other communities in the territory.

A survey planned for residents – among other factors – will be used to help determine some of those details.

“Program design for a recycling collection service would answer these questions and develop a plan for implementation,” Clohosey said.

By the time the program plan is finished, expected in late March 2015, the city would have a “turn-key plan that is ready to be implemented.”

Clohosey went on to note past work Morrison Hershfield has been contracted to do for the city. That includes reports on landfill cost, construction and demolition waste diversion, the solid waste management plan and the recycling processing and collection report.

“The firm has a detailed and in-depth understanding of waste management in Whitehorse and Yukon,” it was noted.

While the city has a goal of diverting 50 per cent of waste from the landfill by 2015, Clohosey said the current system for funding recycling through diversion credits isn’t sustainable.

The city provides $75/tonne for recycling diversion credits up to $150,000/year. 

Staff looked at other options for supporting recycling. The most viable option is the collection service “that would fund both the collection and processing of recyclable materials.

“With the results of the recent study demonstrating the viability of a recycling collection service in Whitehorse, and the strong public support for recycling, administration proposes initiating a program design for a recycling collection service immediately.”

Sole-sourcing the contract to Morrison Hershfield allows the city to speed up the process.

“With the considerable experience experience that Morrison Hershfield has in the Whitehorse waste management system, administration has complete confidence in the quality of their work,” Clohosey said.

The company has a local office with local staff to work on the project.

The vote to move forward with the sole-source contract was unanimous by council in order to move ahead as quickly as possible.

A number of council members, however, emphasized they would normally take issue with such a contract advancing without a competitive process.

As Coun. Kirk Cameron commented, sole-source contracts go “against every fibre of my body.”

He then asked Clohosey to go over other projects Morrison Hershfield had worked on with the city. They included numerous initiatives around solid waste management, with all but one being awarded through a competitive process.

City manager Christine Smith also pointed out that while administration recommended sole-sourcing the program design to save months of time, there are likely to be other contracts under the recycling program which will be awarded through tenders or request for proposals.

Council members all noted the need to move forward as soon as possible in dealing with recycling.

“Our citizens are crying out for something right away,” said Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu.

Coun. Betty Irwin pointed out that the “public” has made it clear that if the city is not in crisis-mode now regarding recycling, it soon will be.

“This really is an urgent, urgent issue,” Mayor Dan Curtis said.

In an interview following last night’s meeting, Curtis said the details of the program will be determined through the program design.

However, he envisions a system similar to garbage and compost pickup, though it would likely be done by a third party determined through a bid process or request for proposals. Residents would pay for the service through a charge on their utility bill.

He acknowledged that the Yukon Blue Bin Society is already doing what the city is proposing, but noted city officials have spoken with officials in the Blue Bin society about the potential plan.

The society will have the opportunity to bid on the collection contract if the program goes in that direction.

A customer of the blue bin society, Curtis noted he envisions a system similar where residents would put out their non-refundable recycling for pickup. They would have the option to either return their refundable materials themselves or have the recycler collect them, with the money from the refunds going back to the contractor.

The blue bin group is doing an excellent job with its service, he said.

But by adding a city-wide recycling service to curbside collection on utility bills, more residents will be paying for the system, which will include both collection and processing to send down south.

The current system, he said, just isn’t working, and something has to be done.

“We don’t have a whole lot of choice,” Curtis said.

While there will likely be a number of residents not wanting to pay for the collection service, he conceded, there has been support for such a program expressed during budget consultations and since Raven’s partial closure for such a program.

Danny Lewis, Raven’s acting executive director, this morning described the city’s move as “certainly a step in the right direction.”

Raven would likely be interested in bidding on a potential collection contract, though Lewis acknowledged the blue bin group may be in a better position for that since it already has a collection service.

In the past, Raven hadn’t moved to a blue bin program because of its high cost.

Unless the entire community is on board with it, Lewis said, “the financial aspect is a challenge.”

Overall, he’s pleased with the city’s move, but noted it’s unclear what it could mean for Raven and the now-closed drop-off bins.

Meanwhile, at P&M Recycling, owner Pat McInroy said he hasn’t had a chance to review exactly what the city is proposing for a blue bin system so he can’t speak directly to it.

He did point out that the blue bin society already offers a recycling pick-up service.

Generally, McInroy doesn’t think recycling pick-up is something that should be mandated.

Since Raven’s bins closure, McInroy said, he’s seeing “at least double” the amount of non-refundable recycling coming in.

The jump in refundable materials arriving has not been as high, as Raven is continuing to collect refundables.

The blue bin society said it had not yet reviewed council’s decision so it wouldn’t be commenting on the matter today.

Coun. John Streicker attended Monday’s meeting by conference call.