Cambridge Bay might be left out

Starting today, Aug. 3, Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet residents will be able to get a nickel back for each empty non-alcoholic beverage container they return.

It's part of a pilot project the Government of Nunavut's environment department is starting that was to extend to Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet.

But it's unclear if Cambridge Bay is going to be a part of the program, said acting senior administrative officer Derrick Anderson.

"[The Government of Nunavut] was going to pay for a couple of seacans," Anderson said Tuesday. "Next they were going to pay for the shredder and crusher, but that's not going to work for us. The seacan would be filled up within half a year, you can be sure of it."

Anderson has been on the job only a couple of weeks, following the resignation last month of former senior administrative officer Bill Buckle.

Earle Baddaloo, the GN's director of environmental protection, said recycling in Cambridge Bay is still possible this year if Cambridge Bay's council votes to give it the go-ahead.

Baddaloo said the program is meant to gauge public interest in recycling and test whether a permanent recycling program could be extended to other Nunavut communities.

He couldn't say how much the pilot project will cost. He also said the environment department doesn't yet know if recycled bottles and cans will be transported south by sea or by air.

In Iqaluit a recycling depot on Federal Road will accept washed bottles and cans starting Aug. 3 and continuing until the end of October. The Iqaluit depot will be open 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Rankin Inlet senior administrative officer Paul Waye said the hamlet will set up a depot near the hamlet's maintenance garage.

"It looks like the GN is going to fund us for the full amount" of the pilot project, Waye said.

Waye said the recycling program will take pressure off the hamlet's landfill and maybe even help cut down on litter in the community.

"We just spent the last four weeks cleaning up the town and a lot of what we found was a fair amount of empty pop cans," he said.

Anderson said Cambridge Bay needs the program to extend the life of its landfill.

"There's a lot of waste that goes up to our metal dump as well as our landfill," he said. "This would have made a big difference."