{"id":881233,"date":"2026-09-02T22:54:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/881233\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T22:54:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T22:54:29","slug":"city-of-iqaluit-recycling-proposal-sitting-in-limbo-with-department-of-finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/881233\/","title":{"rendered":"City of Iqaluit recycling proposal sitting in limbo with Department of Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"

No plans to reintroduce program \u2018at this time,\u2019 says territorial government spokesperson<\/p>\n

This story was updated on Sept. 2, 2026, at 4:40 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

Work to re-establish a beverage recycling program in Iqaluit seems to have stalled with the Nunavut government, after the city presented territorial officials with a feasibility study earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Iqaluit residents lost the program in July 2025 after local business Northern Collectables discontinued the service. Iqaluit city council passed a motion<\/a> in December, asking administration to embark on a feasibility study for the municipality to take over the program.<\/p>\n

The study analyzed adding a reverse vending machine and other container deposit options for the city, along with cost estimates.<\/p>\n

The city then met with territorial officials, said city spokesperson Geoffrey Byrne, but can\u2019t move forward without financial support.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil has been clear that any such program would need to be cost-neutral to the municipality,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n

Nunatsiaq News asked the Finance Department what came of these talks but only received a statement from spokesperson Hala Duale that the department \u201cdoes not have plans to reintroduce a refundable container deposit program at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Derek\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Derek Allerton, an Iqaluit resident who says he collected approximately 14,000 cans off the streets in the past year, said the Government of Nunavut\u2019s response is frustrating.<\/p>\n

\u201cTens of thousands of alcohol aluminum beverage cans litter the streets of Iqaluit, and millions of aluminum cans are going to landfill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some of these cans have made it to a fundraising bin managed by Aqsarniit middle school\u2019s environmental club, which started<\/a> a beverage drop off this spring with help from the Department of Environment. But the club only accepts non-alcoholic beverage containers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my personal experience, one in four cans littering the city are pop cans, and the rest are alcohol beverage cans,\u201d Allerton said, adding the\u00a0most popular brands he sees littering the streets are Molson Dry, Budweiser and Molson Canadian.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The environmental club\u2019s initiative is far from a solution, Allerton said. For many, it\u2019s too far out of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of pop consumed in the city, so I think there could be easily multiple drop-off points for pop cans to be recycled,\u201d Allerton said.<\/p>\n

\"Derek\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He added he was previously feeling hopeful\u00a0about the prospects of the territorial government resolving the issue after Premier John Main wrote to him in June to assure him the city and territory were \u201cactively working together\u201d to resume a \u201csuccessful long-term program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government of Nunavut (GN) has received a proposal from the City of Iqaluit with several different program options and there is a group which has been meeting regularly to develop a city-led program,\u201d Main wrote to Allerton in a letter dated June 22.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of today, there is no confirmed funding model or program structure, because the parties are still analyzing the different program options with their respective funding needs,\u201d the premier wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to continuing our work with the city to develop a program with clearly defined roles and responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main also shared with Allerton that the territory\u2019s liquor commission is no longer collecting a waste management fee on alcoholic beverages until a \u201cnew solution\u201d can be found.<\/p>\n

\"Derek\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In a statement to Nunatsiaq News, sent by press secretary Joanna Awa, the premier\u2019s office said that while the territory won\u2019t reintroduce its former refundable container program, the government remains committed to working with the city toward a solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis work builds on the existing recycling program for non-alcoholic beverage containers in Iqaluit and is focused on developing a system that is operationally and financially sustainable over the long term,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

Nunavut\u2019s Finance Department did not respond to follow up questions regarding whether it is committed to funding a program at some point in the future.<\/p>\n

Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from the premier\u2019s office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No plans to reintroduce program \u2018at this time,\u2019 says territorial government spokesperson This story was updated on Sept.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":881234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-881233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/881234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}