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Still recycling

Still recycling As the executive director of Raven Recycling, I am often approached about the current state of recycling. People ask whether we are taking everything and whether they should keep bringing it to Raven. I am writing this letter because I

As the executive director of Raven Recycling, I am often approached about the current state of recycling.

People ask whether we are taking everything and whether they should keep bringing it to Raven.

I am writing this letter because I have heard people think we are collecting recycling and then taking it to the landfill.

This rumour may be a result of people seeing more material stored in the yard.

In actual fact, we are storing more goods because there are not enough trucks to ship the material south.

This is a regular occurrence over the winter and spring.

Currently, because we cannot afford to staff the centre on Sundays, the yard can also be messy on the weekends.

This doesn’t mean we are not shipping recycling out. In fact, we are collecting and shipping more recycling than ever.

We still have markets for everything we collect. Living on the West Coast, we are able to ship via Skagway right to the mills in Washington.

And the West Coast is still hungry for recyclable material.

Although Raven is receiving half the revenue from the sale of recyclables, as we did in 2008, we are able to continue to recycle thanks to the Yukon government, which is providing short-term funding, and Whitehorse, which changed its diversion credit system.

We are also thankful for the many donations of refundables from the public.

If Raven loses a market, we will no longer accept that material and we will let the public know.

And in the meantime, we are looking forward to reaching an agreement with Whitehorse and Yukon governments to maintain recycling services in the long term for all Yukon people.

Joy Snyder, executive director

Whitehorse