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Recycling brought to Upper Liard

The territorial government has introduced a recycling program to the transfer station at Upper Liard. Previously, residents had to bring materials to Watson Lake if they wanted to recycle them.

The territorial government has introduced a recycling program to the transfer station at Upper Liard.

Previously, residents had to bring materials to Watson Lake if they wanted to recycle them.

About 10 residents came out to a meeting last week to learn about the program, said Wes Wirth with Yukon Community Services.

Everyone in attendance was enthusiastic about the new recycling opportunity, he said.

The Upper Liard dump site began its transition to becoming a transfer station for household goods in January.

Flooding in the area in June forced a temporary re-opening of the landfill in order to accommodate the mess.

Remediation of the former dump site is now nearly complete, said Wirth.

Monitoring wells at the site will continue to be tested twice a year to ensure that toxins are not leaching into the ground water, he said.

Currently, bins are available for household waste to be disposed of at the site. The garbage is then transported to the Whitehorse landfill.

The government is working on an agreement to have the waste accepted at the Watson Lake dump site.

The territorial government mandated that the town stop burning garbage before January 2012.

The town has since requested, and been granted, two extensions on that deadline, first to July 2012, and now to October 2012.

Wirth hopes that the garbage from the Upper Liard transfer station will go to Watson Lake once that site has fully stopped burning garbage, he said.

Recycling taken to the Upper Liard transfer station must be sorted into separate bins for paper products and containers.

The government has tendered a contract for the collection, transportation and processing of the recyclable materials.

Refundable containers will still have to be brought to the bottle depot in Watson Lake if residents wish to collect their deposit.