Preliminary data from the City of Whitehorse’s winter waste audit reveals an impressive 17 per cent reduction in organic matter in industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) waste. This decline is in comparison to the findings of the city’s 2018 waste audit.
Additionally, there has been a six per cent reduction in organic waste in the residential waste stream compared with 2018.
“With more people of course, waste production increases. So even with knowing the population has increased, we’re still seeing that decline in our organic waste being in the waste stream. So that’s good news,” Sara Bos, an environmental coordinator with the City of Whitehorse, told the News.
The city held its most recent waste composition study from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 last year at its waste management facility. The goal of the study was to ascertain what types of items are being thrown away by Whitehorse residents and deposited into the city’s landfill.
The audit examined several waste sources, including residential garbage, ICI waste, and construction and demolition waste. Additionally, to ensure an accurate snapshot of Whitehorse’s waste, the amount of garbage sorted from each neighbourhood or source reflected that area or source’s contribution to overall waste.
Speaking to the recent audit’s revelation that less organic waste is finding its way to the landfill, Bos said one assumption is that more people are using their green, organic waste carts to dispose of food waste.
“It could also be because maybe there’s less food waste; people are, you know, meal planning more and reducing that food waste. But yes, we believe that food waste is making it into residences’ green carts and then being diverted from our landfill to our compost facility to be made into compost,” Bos said.
Speaking to negative waste trends identified in the audit, Bos said they did see a considerable amount of electronics and textiles turning up amid ICI waste. She added that there are diversion programs in place for both electronic and textile waste.
Bos also said that, despite the positive developments on the organic waste front, organics still make up the largest source of divertible waste in the landfill.
“We’re still seeing 25 per cent of organics within the ICI waste composition. So, really, just making sure that our commercial organics collection program is running as efficiently as possible and as many people and, you know, businesses and schools and restaurants are on board to really divert that organic waste,” Bos said.
She added that Yukoners who want to learn more about properly disposing of different waste items can visit https://www.whitehorse.ca/wasteservices/.
Whitehorse’s next waste audit will be held in June 2024. The study is conducted in two seasons—summer and winter—to account for seasonal variance in waste. According to Bos, once the upcoming summer study is completed, the city will have a more complete picture of annual waste trends in Whitehorse.
“We need a summer snapshot just like we need a winter snapshot because we tend to see a difference in waste flow depending on the time of the year—since most of our construction takes place in the summer, and that definitely decreases in the winter,” said Bos.
“We’ll have more information and more of a holistic picture after our summer session is complete, and, you know, I’ll be able to pull more from the data analysis at that point.”
Prior to the most recent trash audit, the waste composition study was previously held in 2010 and 2018.
Bos credits the “positive outcome” of the winter 2023 audit to the efforts of Whitehorse residents and businesses who’ve actively participated in the city’s waste-reduction programs.
“That reduction of organic waste from these two sectors really translates to decreased organic material being buried in our landfill, and that helps reduce our methane emissions and increases our organic material to be diverted and processed into compost and then sold to the public,” Bos said.
Contact Matthew Bossons at matthew.bossons@yukon-news.com