The owner of P & M Recycling in Whitehorse made it clear today that if the Raven ReCentre closes their drop-off bins as they have pledged to do at the end of the year, they will follow suit – and stop accepting any drop-off recycling other than refundables.

“I just couldn’t take the volume,” P & M owner Pat McInroy told the Star.

This would leave Whitehorse residents who are not subscribed to the Whitehorse Blue Bin Recycling service without an option unless the city or territorial government steps in.

McInroy said the primary function of P & M is to be a bottle depot, a service which will continue. But they will no longer accept other products such as paper and packaging once Raven shuts their public bins.

Raven ReCentre’s management decided to shut down their drop-off bin while the territorial government develops new regulations requiring companies to pay for the recycling of products they bring into the Yukon.

Heather Ashthorn, Raven’s executive director, said last Thursday they are hoping the closure of their bins forces the city and territory governments to make sure the new regulations focus recycling collection efforts on curbside bins rather than drop-offs.

These new regulations will take about two years to implement.

Whitehorse’s solid waste services manager, Ira Webb, told the Star last week the city is working on interim solutions.

McInroy said he has been clear on his position in meetings with officials on the subject. Raven had closed their bins once years before, with problematic results for P & M.

“At no time have I ever said I’m going to continue on once Raven shuts down the public drop-off,” he said.

McInroy doubts they can get a citywide blue bin program going it time with current supply chain issues.

“I don’t know if they can get bins in time,” he said. “It’s difficult to see them getting this going by December.”

McInroy said it is just not economically viable for his business to start taking in all of Whitehorse’s recycling, even if he had the facility to do it.

Both P & M and Raven send their material down to provinces to be processed or sold on.

McInroy said they are getting way less money than they once did for this material due to COVID-related supply chain issues and China’s decision to stop importing as much recyclable material.

“This is my 24th year in business at this (downtown) location and the prices have just plummeted,” he said.

Another issue for him is trying to find workers.

“Staff has never been harder to get,” McInroy said. “Even if I could staff up … I don’t know how long I could retain staff for.”

He also cast some doubts on the new regulations in general. The new system has been talked about in the Yukon for about 10 years, he said.

“I don’t want to poo-poo it, but there is quite a bit of uncertainty right now,” he said.

Many aspects of the new regulations are still undecided, according to Yukon government environmental protection analyst Natalia Baranova, who is helping draft the new policies.

For example, it is yet to be determined how broad curbside collection efforts will be and whether existing companies will get the contracts to provide recycling services.

In the meantime, it is up to government officials at both the city and territorial level to figure out an interim plan by December, or all the non-refundable recycling that was being processed by Raven and P & M will be going to the landfill.