Whitehorse eyes e-waste handling fee
Yukon government in national talks about disposing of old electronics
Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 | 7:05 PM CT
CBC News
Whitehorse city officials are looking for ways to lower the costs of shipping old cellphones, computers and other electronic waste out of the Yukon.
In an effort to move old electronics — and the heavy metals, such as mercury and lead, that are often in them — out of Whitehorse's landfill, the city plans to ship six tonnes of e-waste to southern Canada for processing, at a cost of about $7,000.
The $7,000 price applies to items that have been collected only over a few months, which has officials wondering if there is a better way to finance the disposal of unwanted electronics. The city is looking at whether a fee could be charged on new electronics and the revenue used to dispose of the items at the end of their lifespan.
Details have not been worked out. The fee might be charged during the manufacturing or purchase of a new electronic item, said Sabine Schweiger, the city's environmental coordinator.
"The end result is that the person who purchases the material up-front has paid or prepaid for the disposal of that material in a responsible manner," Schweiger told CBC News.
The Yukon government is holding national-level talks on the e-waste issue, said Allan Koprowsky, the territory's assistant deputy environment minister responsible for operations.
"I don't have dates," he said. "It's something that's under active discussion now at the national level by the jurisdictions through the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment."
In the meantime, Whitehorse city workers urge residents not to throw out their unwanted electronics but to reuse or recycle them instead.
City works technicians like Dan Jordan said people still tend to throw out their old watches, televisions and cellphones.
"It's not malicious at all," he said. "I just think it's maybe [a] lack on the education part of it, of just what this stuff can do to the environment if it's not handled properly."
