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Raven ReCentre said it was knocked off a government contract without notification: Yukon Community Services said that’s not the case at all.
The recycling centre in downtown Whitehorse alleges that the Yukon government took them off a transportation contract for shipping recyclables from the communities out of the territory. But the minister of community services, Richard Mostyn, claims that the recycling centre knew that they’d no longer be receiving shipments of recycling from the communities.
The issue has even been the subject of a petition tabled in the legislature by Yukon NDP leader Kate White on March 13: the petition asks YG to “publicly disclose the reasons behind these actions against the non-profit Raven Recycling Society and the directives given to the Department of Community Services, and to amend the transfer payment agreement to include community depot recycling materials, allowing Raven Recycling Society to continue serving all of Yukon as it has for decades.”
Raven pulled out of processing non-refundables at its public drop-off in September 2024: but the centre still processes refundable recycling at its bottle drop-off.
In a March 13 statement, the Raven board of directors said the executive director and staff “consistently and directly communicated Raven’s willingness and capacity to continue processing non-refundable materials from the communities.”
The statement said the department denied Raven’s transfer payment agreement application for processing the non-refundable materials, removed Raven from the contract for transporting non-refundable materials from the communities out of territory, without notice, and told depots in the communities that they should not send materials to Raven, but rather to the other recycling centre in town.
“The decision to exclude Raven from processing community depot materials was made unilaterally by the Government of Yukon, not by Raven’s leadership or Board,” reads the statement.
“This arbitrary exclusion undermines the longstanding practice of multiple processors managing the Yukon’s recyclable materials, effectively creating a government-sanctioned monopoly.”
Raven has said that the contract change puts $350,000 of annual funding in jeopardy, as reported by the News in February.
On March 11, Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn addressed questions in the legislature regarding Raven ReCentre.
He said that recyclable waste isn’t sorted when it’s trucked into Whitehorse from the communities.
“This has been the case for years and years, and we rely on the processor in Whitehorse to do that work. Raven’s decision meant that the Government of Yukon had to seek out a different option for processing the territory’s recyclable material,” he said, referring to Raven’s decision that they would no longer accept non-refundable recycling at its drop-off.
“Raven’s previous executive director was fully aware that they would not be receiving community materials because of their decision to stop processing non-refundables,” said Mostyn.
Mostyn said that understanding was communicated in a May 24, 2024 email, where Raven said they understood their decision regarding non-refundables meant they would no longer be getting shipments from communities as refundables and non-refundables arrive mixed together.
He said that YG isn’t able to pre-sort without increasing the burden on communities and taxpayers: hence, the government “had no choice but to complete a change order for community depot transport drop-off locations.”
Shannon Powell, the current executive director of Raven, told the News there was no such understanding.
In a copy of a May 23 email shared by Raven Recycling with the News via Microsoft Word, Joost van der Putten, the operations manager for Raven, said that “After September 15th we will also continue handling and processing of refundables from the Yukon depots, including BCR [bottle container regulation] materials (aluminum), #1 and #2 plastics, Tetra Pak beverage containers, waxed carton containers, refundable glass (wine, liquor and beer bottles). We will also continue to accept textiles.”
Van der Putten also asked whether Raven or YG should be the conduit of information for community depots.
A response from a community services department official said that the department was having ongoing conversations with municipalities and community depots, and that the department had not considered any changes to the current process of tendering out the transport of materials from communities to the processor in Whitehorse.
The department of community services also shared content from the email that Mostyn referenced, which was sent May 24, 2024. The department spokesperson said it was sent from Raven ReCentre’s executive director at the time.
“Currently we receive paper and packaging from the depots you manage and it comes on the same trailer as the BCR [beverage container regulation] from the depots in those communities. I imagine you will now be sending both materials to P&M Recycling while you are still managing PPP [packaging and printed paper], but I hope there is room for a conversation about a competitive bidding process for BCR, at the very least after October 2025,” reads the email.
Powell told the News on March 18 that Raven always told the department of community services it was still interested in servicing the community depots.
Powell said the department had instead removed Raven from a three-year transportation contract for community recyclables, and didn’t notify them that they had been removed from the contract. Furthermore, Powell said, the department told depots that they could not send their waste to Raven, and directed them to use another processor in Whitehorse.
Powell said Raven only learned about the contract changes and the communications to the community depots through access to information requests.
Powell said that they are not even allowed to accept trucks with loads from the communities any more, and that if they do process any loads, they will not be paid for it by the government — although the other processor would be.
Powell said that when Raven was negotiating their transfer payment agreement, they were told that they could not include community material as they had done previous.
Powell said they have brought it forward to the Ombudsman, who are investigating.
A spokesperson from the Yukon Ombudsman confirmed they have received a complaint regarding this issue, and it is currently making its way through the informal resolution process.
In the legislature on March 11, Mostyn said Raven made a decision to “exit the field,” and has had a change of heart.
“They want to get back into processing of non-refundables. So that’s fine, and we have told them several times in writing and in person that if they want to get back into that processing business, we will certainly accommodate in October,” said Mostyn.
Powell took issue with that suggestion.
“To say, ‘Oh, just wait, because we took actions against you,’ is disingenuous, because right now, we have staff that we need to pay an income to, and the government’s stepping in and taking business away from us,” said Powell. “I don’t feel we should be waiting until the end of October.”
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