Iqaluit hikes garbage rates for bulk producers

Iqaluit businesses and organizations that produce large amounts of garbage will see their rates increase substantially on Oct 1.

On Sept. 28, Iqaluit city council voted unanimously to amend the city’s solid waste bylaw, which, among other things, covers the cost of garbage pickup.

Until October, Iqaluit businesses paid the city $200 a month for six-day-a-week garbage pickup regardless of the amount of garbage they produced.

Businesses who needed garbage pickup only bi-weekly were charged $100 a month.

As of the start of October, six-day service will cost a minimum of $300 a month and bi-weekly service a minimum of $200 a month, if each pickup is no more than half a cubic metre of garbage.

But if there is more garbage than that, the city will charge an additional $25 per cubic metre of garbage.

Residential rates will go from $27.50 a month to $30 regardless of the amount of garbage produced.

At a meeting of the city’s engineering and public works committee Sept 7, director of corporate services John Maberri-Muydoni said the previous fee structure subsidized businesses by giving them a rate that did not reflect the real cost of providing the service.

Maberri-Muydoni said some businesses produce up to 200 cubic metres of garbage a month.

Agreeing with Maberri-Muydoni, Coun. Mat Knickelbein said, “It’s very, very, very cheap for businesses to get rid of their garbage in Iqaluit.”

Coun. Romeyn Stephenson expressed concern that some businesses might attempt to dump their garbage onto other businesses.

Maberri-Muydoni responded that the new rate structure might “force them to make sure their garbage is secure.”

John Hussey, Iqaluit’s chief administrative officer, said the rising cost of gasoline, labour, and limited space at the landfill made the rate increase long overdue.

The previous rate of $200 per month boils down to roughly $8 per day, which nowhere near made up for the city’s costs.

Maberri-Muydoni said the increase was needed to shore up the city’s sanitation fund.

“The fund is in serious deficit and we need to make sure that we cover that deficit,” he said.

Rick McDougall, assistant manager of Northmart – possibly one of the largest garbage producers in Iqaluit — said the company already does what it can to minimize its waste.

He said a compactor mashes up cardboard packaging, which constitutes most of Northmart’s trash.

He said Iqaluit offers few options for how to decrease their trash production since there’s no recycling program.

Arctic Ventures owner Kenn Harper said his business doesn’t produce as much garbage as Northmart, but he said his costs would doubtless increase too.

“Everything gets passed on to the consumer sooner or later,” he said. “We’re going to have to monitor it for a few months and see what the increase is.”

Harper said if his bill goes from $200 a month to $500 the increase would be easily absorbed.

He said if he feels company needs to reduce the volume of garbage production he may consider a compactor for cardboard.