Preliminary data from the City of Whitehorse’s winter waste audit reveals a 17 percent 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 percent 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 neighborhood or source reflected that area or source’s contribution to overall waste.