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# Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society and Raven Recycling unveil new textile baler

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The Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society and Raven Recycling along with the Government of Yukon today unveiled a new textile baler. The Government of Yukon’s Community Development Fund provided funding to the Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society to purchase the textile baler to help recycle clothing and divert it from Yukon’s landfills. The baler has been installed on location at Raven Recycling and will be operated and maintained by Raven Recycling staff.

As a part of this initiative, recycling depots outside of Whitehorse are also accepting textiles. The Government of Yukon is transporting fabrics from rural depots back to Whitehorse, where Raven Recycling will process and ship them south for recycling.

> We are proud to support this initiative through the Community Development Fund. This project is set to make an impact on waste diversion and the amount of textiles in our landfills. Thank you to the Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society and Raven Recycling for partnering on this exciting project.

> Finding a way to repurpose and reuse clothing is always the best option, and we know Yukoners are great at coming up with creative solutions to reduce waste. It is also necessary, that as a territory, we have a viable option for recycling textiles. Thank you to Raven Recycling and the Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society, for expanding and improving recycling in the territory.

> A growing problem of textiles was over burdening local second-hand clothing locations with costs, they were overjoyed when we said we would accept their clothing for free. Monetary value was not high enough to entice private industry to grapple with this growing problem. Our two organizations working together with common mandates to help their community were able to offset the pressure faced by second-hand organizations.

> Recycling is the best option for textiles that can’t be reused or repurposed locally. In 2018, Raven diverted 117,000 lbs of textiles from local landfills. This recycled material displaces virgin material in the textiles economy, reducing the pollution, resource use and energy consumption associated with new products.

Quick facts

- In June 2017, Raven Recycling and Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society created a social enterprise to divert, bale and sell re-usable textiles to a market in British Columbia.

- In 2018, City of Whitehorse commissioned a study that estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 pounds of re-usable textiles enter the City of Whitehorse landfill each year.

- Reusing or repurposing textiles locally is preferable to recycling. Examples of this include thrifting, clothing swaps or crafting.

- To recycle your textiles, make sure they are clean and bagged and drop them off at Raven Recycling or at your local recycling depot. Dirty textiles will not be recycled. Shoes, belts and purses are not accepted for recycling.

Media contact

Stewart Burnett
Cabinet Communications
867-332-0480
stewart.burnett@gov.yk.ca

Damian Topps
Communications, Economic Development
867-667-5378
damian.topps@gov.yk.ca

Kara Johancsik
Communications, Community Services
867-332-1237
kara.johancsik@gov.yk.ca

Sabrina Clarke
Communications, Raven Recycling
867-667-7269 ext. 23
ed@ravenrecycling.org

Nicholas O’Carroll
Program Director, Whitehorse Firefighters Charitable Society
867-333-0931
wffa2217@gmail.com

News release #:
20-023