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Frequently

Asked Questions

  • Some of our revenue comes from sale of commodities. We also manage service contracts for the Yukon Government such as the Recycling Club for Kids and E-Waste Collection Depot and we operate a BCR Depot.

    We also operate businesses such as Papersave commercial paper pickup, Raven’s Reuseful and Raven Scrap Metals. Diversion credits contributed by Yukon Government and the City of Whitehorse cover the costs of processing the non-refundable material. As of 2023, we no longer subsidize non-refundable recycling, but we do provide the service at cost to our local governments which keeps the cost of recycling as low as possible for Yukoners.

    Raven invests revenues gained from our businesses into improving recycling infrastructure, educating and advocating for better management of recycled materials, and providing reuse options within Yukon communities.

  • We get asked this question a lot. Recycling is a global industry and with global markets in a state of flux, the end-markets for Yukon’s recycled materials are a hot topic.

    Click here for a list of some of the items we process, and where they currently end up after you drop them off at Raven. As these end points depend on markets and demand, this list is subject to change.

    All our materials are shipped out via backhaul, filling up trucks that would otherwise go south empty.

  • In concert with the Government’s new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations coming into effect, Raven will be changing operations.

    Furthermore, Whitehorse is one of the last Canadian cities without a city-wide blue box program. Despite our advocacy efforts so far to encourage government to take on a curbside collection program, the existence of our public drop-off has delayed the development of a more effective and accessible government-run city-wide collection program.

    As these changes come into effect, we will continue to work with the City of Whitehorse and Yukon Government to ensure the best possible transition of our territory’s recycling system. Forur latest news piece more on this change and future operational plans, please read our latest news piece on the topic.

Where Does My

Recycling Go?

Glass

  • Unfortunately glass is hard to recycle given our location. Due to its abrasive nature and high weight, as well as our distance from glass recycling markets, we are unable to ship glass out of territory for recycling.

    In the past, crushed glass has been used for sandblasting, construction aggregate, landscaping material, and for products made by local businesses. When there is no local market for crushed glass, it is used as landfill cover to compact materials and help prevent windblown litter.

    But there is good news! We are working with Lumel Studios to develop a Yukon-based, value-added glass industry. We have purchased a furnace for recycled glass and are starting small with the intention of going big. Stay tuned! This is one of our favorite projects at the moment.

  • Non-refundable glass includes all glass containers that DID NOT hold a beverage when purchased (i.e. pickle jars, pasta jars, sauce bottles, and oil bottles). These items can be rinsed and placed in your regular garbage.

    Crushing non-refundable glass in the hopes of finding a consistent local market for the material has diverted funds that could be better used for other recycling operations.

  • Refundable Glass (i.e. beer, wine, pop, milk, coffee-to-go bottles) will still be accepted at Raven. Any glass container that held a beverage can be brought to the depot for a refund.

    Domestic glass beer bottles (e.g. Budweiser, Canadian, Yukon Brewing and others) are shipped back to the brewers to be cleaned and refilled.

    All other refundable glass, such as imported beer bottles and wine bottles will continue to be crushed at Raven and used for landfill cover until a local market alternative can be found. The deposit on refundable glass pays for collecting and processing the glass.

Paper Products

  • One important thing to note about paper recycling is the difference between cardboard and boxboard. Cardboard is two layers of material sandwiching a wavy layer of material, whereas boxboard just has one layer. The recycling market is different for the two, so it is important to keep them separate.

  • All our paper and boxboard (single-layer cardboard, e.g. cereal boxes) is baled and shipped to recyclers in Alberta and British Columbia. Common end uses for recycled paper are boxboard, paper cover for drywall, egg cartons and insulation.

  • Cardboard is sent to Edmonton and then shipped to mills in the Pacific Northwest, mainly in Washington State. This material is pulped and reprocessed into new cardboard.

  • Tetra-Paks and wax cartons are shipped to our paper brokers in Alberta and sent to recyclers primarily in North America but also sometimes overseas to be pulped.

    PLEASE NOTE: We have recently changed the bunker for dropping off wax and tetra. Please put it in the mixed paper bunker instead of the mixed plastic one.

    ALSO NOTE that wax and tetra cartons that have contained a beverage can be turned in for a refund in our bottle depot.

Mixed Plastics

  • Recycling plastics is complicated and difficult. Where plastic ends up and what happens from there can change suddenly.

    We send all plastics received at Raven to Merlin Plastics because they have an advanced sorting facility and are the main plastics processor for BC’s regulated recycling system. Yukon Government is writing a recycling regulation that will align with BCs in many ways, so we feel this is an approach that will keep things as simple and clear as possible.

    Merlin makes plastic pellets to spec for customers all over the world. They do not report on who their customers are or how much plastic received is actually recycled. As such, the true ‘end market’ of Yukon plastics is somewhat obscured. We have advocated for a recycling regulation that fixes this by holding producers accountable to a high reporting standard. Extended Producer Responsibility is an environmental policy approach that is supposed to hold plastic manufacturers accountable to making products that last longer and are more recyclable. A complimentary regulation forces those manufacturers to use a high percentage of recycled material in their products. This is how the tap will be slowed and the social and environmental costs of waste management will improve.

    In line with our mandate, Raven works hard to ensure the brokers we send our materials to have the highest possible environmental standards and that our materials are actually being recycled. We also regularly reassess where our plastics end up and consider whether there are better options for our materials here in the Yukon or elsewhere.

  • Rigid plastics such as #1 PET and #2 HDPE are washed and ground or pelletized by Merlin Plastics before being sold as material to make new products. Mixed hard plastics are also sorted, cleaned and processed into grind/pellets.

  • WE CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT film plastics. See below for more. We are ONLY able to accept hard (rigid) plastics. Non-refundable wax cartons and tetra paks are still accepted.

    Film plastics include plastic bags and over wrap, (primarily #4 LDPE) and mixed flexible plastic items such as multilaminate packages, zippered and stand up pouches, crinkly packages and other co-extruded materials.

    Multilaminates, pouches, crinkly packaging ad co-extruded materials are tough to recycle, as they often consist of several materials fused together. Until recently, we encouraged mixing flexible plastics in with #1-7 in our mixed plastic bunker because our brokers were accepting the materials and Merlin Plastics had developed technologies for recycling them. However, we have recently learned that all mixed plastics are being landfilled or incinerated if the bales contain any film at all for two reasons:

    1. The sorting facilities down south are not able to separate the film, and

    2. The plastics market is currently flat, and brokers are struggling to move the material.

    We do not think that sending material south to be landfilled or incinerated is a responsible approach and we do not have the infrastructure to sort film plastic into recyclable categories. We are therefore now asking the public not to bring flexible plastics to Raven. We are sorry there is not a better solution at this time.

Metals

  • Metal recycling is one of the most impactful forms of recycling in terms of GHG reduction and avoidance. Many metals are infinitely recyclable and we offer this service because, in theory, recycling metal reduces the need to mine for new material. It is hard to know if this is an actual outcome because human populations and infrastructure are ever changing but our community has voted yes by continuing to use our metal recycling services, and we are hopeful that we are contributing to an increasingly effective recycling system.

  • Aluminum is one of the most highly recyclable commodities we ship and one that results in the greatest greenhouse gas emissions avoidance. Beverage cans are remade into aluminum cans right here in North America.

    All of our non-ferrous metals are shipped to Davis Trading in B.C. We are happy to be working with a family-owned, forward-thinking company.

  • Ferrous metal is sent to General Recycling in Alberta.

  • Lead acid batteries are shipped to Metalex Products Ltd. in Richmond, which is owned by Davis Trading. Lead is re-smelted and sold for various purposes, the plastic is recycled and the acid is repurposed. Other materials are also extracted from the batteries for resale.

    On behalf of Metalex Products Ltd, Gabe Davis has this to say:

    “We are extremely proud of being the only family owned secondary lead smelter in the Pacific Northwest, providing the most environmentally sustainable methods to solving our societal recycling needs related to lead products. Our best in class operation includes systems and processes for recycling every component for end of life batteries, with minimal waste stream. This refined lead product is circulated back into the economy for the purpose of manufacturing new batteries, piping, ballasts, telecommunication cables, stain-glass windows, and the Canadian military and police”

    PLEASE NOTE: Household batteries can be brought to the bottle depot. They are sent to Call2Recycle, a producer organization leading the charge on responsible battery management across Canada.

Textile Products

  • Textiles are shipped to Trans-continental Textile Recycling Ltd.

    “Trans-Continental Textile Recycling Ltd (TCTR) is a British Columbia owned and operated company that has processed recycled textiles since 1990. Over fifteen years ago TCTR developed a locally based recycling programme that enables the public to recycle their unwanted clothing and, by doing so, help generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for local charities, schools, and non- profit organizations.”

    Raven chose to work with TCTR because their values align with ours. We have visited their site many times and are impressed with their dedication, creativity and equitable employment practices.

  • Raven’s textile program is run in partnership with the Whitehorse Firefighter’s Charitable Society. The WFCS approached Raven with the idea to combine forces and meet our individual and mutual objectives. We split the proceeds of textile sales and the diversion credits with the WFCS and they donate their proceeds to various charities. Our half keeps the program running! Please visit the WFCS here.

E-Waste

  • E-waste is collected in cages and shipped to Quantum Lifecycle Partners LP (formerly Global Electric Electronic Recycling (GEEP)) in Edmonton, AB.

    Raven Recycling has had a close relationship with Quantum since 2009, and have visited their facility to ensure that our materials are being responsibly recycled. Quantum is registered with the Alberta Recycling Management Authority as an electronics processor.

    Materials sent are broken down into component parts. Plastics, metals, and glass are then shipped to various North American locations to be recycled or reused. The same goes for valuable materials such as copper, computer chips and precious metals.

  • Please see our list of accepted items here.

Have a question about a specific material? Get in touch!