Recycling pays

Waste Matters Inc. is taking initiative on waste diversion issues in Iqaluit, and has advised the City to embrace composting and to increase the efficiency of its recycling program by focusing on the core items (paper, plastics, aluminum).

Composting can and does work in Iqaluit, as proven by Jim Little. We hope to see this waste stream removed from the landfill, as it makes up 35 per cent of the total landfill volume.

Of residential waste, 34 per cent is paper products (newspapers, office paper, cardboard.) It’s clean and guess what — nice and heavy — and airlines need ballast. They are currently paying per litre to fill up barrels of water to ship south. Sending baled paper and cardboard south is a win-win exercise that will require plenty of effort to coordinate but it’s doable.

A couple of reasons why waste diversion is essential to the vibrancy of Nunavut’s capital:

1. Putting garbage in a hole in the ground has both fiscal and environmental costs. The creation of a landfill is a very expensive process in terms of city administration, consultants, labour and operations. Putting garbage in a hole doesn’t make it go away. It is environmentally problematic in terms of leachate and materials that don’t break down very quickly in biochemical terms.
2. The current landfill cell [dump] is almost full. Extending the cell above ground will not significantly extend the life of the landfill. Once full, the city will have to find an expensive solution in order to find a new site that does not interfere with the watershed.

The city council does have the authority and the responsibility to deal with this issue. The bottom line is that we can divert almost 70 per cent of residential waste with not too much trouble.

The city is not caving in to a few individuals as was suggested. In fact, there are many community members, including youth, who are interested in this issue. School classes have made various presentations to council on recycling because they are interested and want to be part of a healthier community.

Feedback at mass registration showed support and concern amongst community members, and, of course, all the people who continue to recycle and compost on a regular basis. We expect this support base to continually expand as residents see that waste diversion through household separation of compost, paper, plastics and aluminum has a significant impact on the life of the current landfill and a healthier community.

No one wants to relocate the landfill. It cost the City of Edmonton $20 million to investigate 100 potential sites — all of which were rejected by the public. Instead, they have chosen waste diversion to extend the life of their landfill.

According to your Sept. 10 editorial “Recycle this,” the real cost of recycling is turning out to be between $250,000 to $300,000. This is totally false. The cost of recycling in itself this year would be the labour to administer, collect and bail the recyclables, the cost of the amortized vehicle and bailer, plus sealift. The sealift fee, at $15,000, is the highest expenditure this year. Not quite $250,000 is it?

Furthermore, this is not the “real cost” of recycling. The real cost would also take into account the value of diverted landfill space and its associated savings. Again, $250,000 appears to be an exaggeration, doesn’t it?

Waste Matters Inc. will continue to uphold the interests of those in the community who want to see waste diversion embraced by the various governments. If we didn’t voice these concerns and if public support through composting and recycling ended — Iqaluit would find itself in a messy situation both financially and environmentally. We would like to thank all Iqalungmiut for their individual waste diversion efforts!

Nick Dennahower
Coordinator
Waste Matters Inc.
Iqaluit