Ch. 3 Land - Environment Yukon

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the Yukon. Permits will be required for public waste disposal. One of the most controversial issues addressed in the draft regulations is the burning of garbage at dumps. Burning is the least expensive way to get rid of solid waste and also helps control odours that can attract wildlife to dumps. But open burning can produce air pollution, and it can also be dangerous during the fire season. In the summer of 1999, a forest fire started at the Burwash dump and caused considerable damage in that community. tonnes 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Note: data for some commodities is not available for particular years. 98/99 data 97/98 data 96/97 data 95/96 data Aluminum Plastic Office Paper Cardboard Glass The Yukon and the Northwest Territories are the only jurisdictions in Canada where open burning is still allowed. Are we reducing our wastes? Reduce, reuse, recycle, and reclaim are the four ‘Rs’ of waste reduction. Education programs can help people learn how to reduce the amount of waste they send to the landfill. We can reduce the amount of waste we generate in the first place by shopping for more durable goods or rejecting excessive packaging. Newsprint/ Magazines Tin Textiles Batteries Figure 3.16 Recyclable materials processed by Raven Recycling Per cent returns 100 80 60 40 20 0 92/93 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 Pallets 97/98 Figure 3.17 Return Rates: Beverage Container Program 1992-98 Refillable Beer Bottles Compost In 1994, three quarters of residential solid waste in Whitehorse was recyclable or reusable. That figure is not thought to have changed in 1999. Some of those materials were thrown out because there was no system for handling them, but now all Yukon communities have access to a nonprofit community-recycling depot. The City of Whitehorse initiatives on tipping fees and curbside pick-up of compostables through the Waste Watch program could help reduce the amount of waste dumped in the landfill by about half. The city estimates that about 21 per cent of the waste was diverted in 1999. Community Recycling All Yukon rural recycling depots ship to one of two Whitehorse recyclers; either P&M Recycling, a commercial operation, or Raven Recycling, a nonprofit society. Raven Recycling began operating in 1989, and handles most of the territory’s recycled goods. The volume of material that it collects has increased every year. The original list of items accepted for recycling included aluminum, office paper, newspaper, brown paper bags, tin (steel) cans, corrugated cardboard, plastic (PET) drink containers, used oil and household batteries (Figure 3.16). Now Raven also accepts textiles, tetrapaks, auto batteries, magazines, refillable beer bottles, and compost. Most materials are shipped to Alberta or British Columbia for processing 4. Local scrap dealers contribute to recycling by reclaiming iron, copper, aluminum and batteries. In August 1999, a local salvage company and the City of Whitehorse joined forces and collected a large quantity of scrap vehicles and compacted metal waste from the salvage yard and the landfill. Together they shipped more than 3,000 tonnes south for recycling. 5 6 ❧ Y U K O N S T A T E O F T H E E N V I R O N M E N T R E P O R T 1999 98/99
The Yukon’s beverage container recycling program Since the Yukon government first initiated a deposit-refund system on beverage containers in 1992, the Beverage Container Regulations have been expanded twice. In 1996 glass and plastic containers were added to the list; in 1998 tin and tetrapak containers were included. The deposit collected by retailers goes into a Recycling Fund, and is used to help run registered recycling centres. In 1997-98, 91.2 per cent of containers covered by the regulations were recouped based on sales of 16.4 million containers. Return rates in the Beverage Container Program peaked in 1997/98 (Figure 3.17). Recycling Club The Yukon government started the Recycling Club in 1996 to promote the Yukon’s container recycling program. In 1998 more than 1,600 Yukon youth joined the Club and earned more than 29 million Recycling Club points by turning in pop cans and other beverage containers. The points were traded in for prizes ranging from books to bicycles. This popular program, which is unique in North America, is credited with helping to increase container return rates from 80 per cent to 91 per cent in 1997/98. Composting Many Yukoners collect organic household waste in their backyards, using the rich compost to supplement their soils. Up to 50 per cent of household waste can be composted, so composting can also reduce the waste stream significantly. The City of Whitehorse runs two composting programs: Waste Watch and, through contracts, the Composting Program at the landfill. In the Waste Watch program, compost is collected every other week at the curbside. In addition to vegetable and table scraps, yard waste and other organic items, the Waste Watch program also accepts non-recyclable paper such as box board and paper napkins. These materials can be composted because of the high temperatures achieved in its large compost piles. The average temperature is 55°C. The Waste Watch program is the city’s main strategy for reducing residential garbage. It is estimated that Waste Watch can reduce the portion of residential garbage that the city hauls to the landfill by 40 per cent. This reduction would extend the life of the landfill by four years, saving $637,809 over the next 30 years. The Recycle Organics Together Society (ROTS) began a community composting project in 1990, and in its first few years produced about 200 cubic metres of compost annually (Figure 3.18). This immensely successful program now produces about 1,557 tonnes of compost every year. The programme is currently operated by Raven Recycling under contract and is located at the landfill site. Raven Recy- Cubic metres of compost 2000 1500 1000 500 0 cling sells this valuable fertilizer to the public. This program has proven itself to be the most successful waste stream reduction activity so far. The value of compost was demonstrated in a pilot project, sponsored by the Yukon Chamber of Mines, at the abandoned Whitehorse Copper Mine site. Different types of organic waste were rototilled into a series of test plots on the mine tailings. The site was irrigated for several seasons, but since 1997 the vegetation has continued to grow on its own. This experiment showed a direct link between the amount of compost used and the amount of revegetation that took place on different plots. What are we doing about special wastes? The management of special waste has changed dramatically since 1995 when the Special Waste Regulations were enacted. The regulations state that special wastes must be disposed of in an approved manner. The change in disposal of waste oil is one example of the effect of the new regulations. 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Figure 3.18 Organic material composted each year Of the 1500 cubic metres of organic material composted in 1998, an estimated 245 cubic metres was collected from the 235 households on the Waste Watch programs. C H A P T E R 3 L A N D ❧ 5 7
Page 1 and 2: The Yukon is situated in the northw
Page 3 and 4: number of humans is immense. As cou
Page 5 and 6: Different data sources for 1999 tha
Page 7 and 8: ■ protecting core areas within ea
Page 9 and 10: within the study area in February 1
Page 11 and 12: 3.4 Mining Mining has been an impor
Page 13 and 14: An environmental review committee,
Page 15 and 16: Reclamation and Abandonment When th
Page 17 and 18: first bar of gold on November 23, 1
Page 19 and 20: This creates uncertainty and delays
Page 21 and 22: every year in the Yukon, but the an
Page 23: Direct Costs: ■ Picking up Whiteh
Page 27 and 28: Contaminant? In Carcross, the recen
Page 29 and 30: PROGRESS & CHALLENGES Since the 199
Page 31 and 32: with the objective of import replac
Page 33 and 34: still exist along the old trails an
Page 35 and 36: 3.8 Tourism Tourism is gaining impo

Ch. 3 Land - Environment Yukon

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