Dawson City’s relatively new recycling depot is doing its part to divert waste back into a “living stream,” according to the community’s superintendent of public works “By that I mean to be able to use those already existing metals [and] plastics again and again,” said Jonathan Howe. “Beyond the obvious […] the huge value for Dawson proper is that it allows us to maintain a much longer lifecycle at the landfill.”
The depot is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Wednesday to Saturday at 11 Rabbit Creek Rd., which is about two kilometres outside of the core, within the municipal boundary. Howe said it opened in February. Howe said the centre takes “basically everything” that Raven Recycling Society accepts. He said that includes mixed plastic, tin cans, glass, paper, cardboard and more. “We don’t recycle. We are a diversion centre, right? So, we can only accept what others accept from us,” Howe said.
He said the recycled material gets sent to Raven Recycling Society, which diverts most of it to Vancouver, B.C. The new building features two balers that will “crush anything” and compact it, Howe said. A Yukon government release highlights a glass crusher that will turn glass products into sand and a conveyor system to help staff separate recycling streams. Three staff are working to keep the facility in motion.