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Mixing garbage with recyclables makes messy job even messier

Seal carcasses and used condoms contaminate blue bags

KIRSTEN MURPHY

It's a dirty job: Darcey Reist points to household waste mixed in with recyclable goods.

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(PHOTO BY KIRSTEN MURPHY)

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Careless treatment of household garbage is hampering Iqaluit's otherwise successful recycling program, organizers say.

Coffee grounds and used condoms are among the non-recyclable items ending up in blue bags destined for the city's recycling bins. An estimated two out of every three blue bags collected are contaminated.

"If there's any garbage present, the whole bag gets thrown out [and burned at the landfill] - for health reasons. In some cases the bags have sat for months so there's mould and it's really stinky. We don't want the sorters exposed to that," said Kelly Craver, a contract researcher with the Iqaluit Recycling Society.

Landfill manager Darcey Reist recently instructed recycling collectors not to retrieve residential blue bags with traces of garbage. Instead, the tainted bags will be picked up with regular garbage collection and burned.

The mix-up could be easily solved if residents are educated about what can be recycled and what can't, Reist said.

The City of Iqaluit began the recycling program in December 2001. Recycling will eventually help reduce the amount of toxin released into the air when plastics and metals are burned at the dump, and ease the pressure on a landfill nearing capacity.

Metal cans and certain plastics are the only items accepted for recycling at present.

In the first nine months, 18 sealift containers were filled with blue bags - six more containers than were set aside for the first year.

Despite the positive response to the program, burning at the dump has only decreased minimally, Reist said.

"We don't have exact numbers [about volume and frequency of burning]. A waste audit will give us a better idea," Reist said.

The city plans to conduct the waste audit in September. The study will paint a picture of items still arriving at the dump.

Matthew Hough, the city's director of engineering, remains encouraged by the recycling program's overall success.

He said the long-term goal is to build a material recovery facility where tin, plastic and other recyclables could be sorted, stored and baled under one roof.

"In a small way we're already doing that, just incrementally," Hough said.

Jonathan Wright, the Iqaluit Recycling Society's coordinator, said growing pains are inevitable. In addition, he said some residents don't want to pay $4 to $5 for a package of 10 blue bags.

"The program is still in its infancy. We have to be patient and educate people," he said.

The city began an education campaign and started distributing a recycling kit in Inuktitut, English and French last December. More public information sessions and a fundraiser are planned this fall.

The North poses unique recycling problems. "You may find a seal carcass in a recycling bag. But it's all par for the course. Recycling is a new concept for a lot of people here. Education is the most important thing now," Wright said.

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

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(PHOTO BY KIRSTEN MURPHY)

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A dozen summer students are sorting through thousands of blue bags this week. The rubber-gloved teens have found everything from maggots to used condoms.

"It can be pretty gross," said Chris Fraser.

He said he's yet to see one pure bag of recyclable cans and bottles.

"It would make things a lot easier if people put recyclables in the blue bags and garbage in the garbage bags."

Despite the mixing of items, some recyclable goods will likely be crushed and sent south by sealift in October. However, the majority of bags will spend another winter in Iqaluit.

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