Iqaluit water crisis increasing plastic bottle use, companies offer recycling help

A group of companies in Nunavut have teamed up to recycle thousands of plastic water bottles from Iqaluit.

The city’s tap water hasn’t been drinkable for a week after it was found to contain fuel.

Thousands of bottles of water have arrived in Iqaluit and distributed to residents for free, but there’s no recycling facility in the city.

Brian Tattuinee, who is the business development manager with Nunavut Sealink and Supply, says people in Iqaluit should hold on to their plastic bottles for recycling.

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Tattuinee says he’s worried about how many plastic bottles could end up in the city’s landfill, so bottles will instead be collected and sent to Southern Canada on a sealift ship.

The city has also extended its state of emergency related to the water crisis for seven more days.

2:30 Tap water contaminated in Nunavut’s capital, triggering state-of-emergency