Unalaska, AK – After a four-year hiatus, the Qawalangin Tribe is hoping to resurrect its recycling program in Unalaska.

The tribe has presented a proposal to the Unalaska City Council for a program that would recycle aluminum and fiber products, and would cost the city about $158,000 in its first year.

Tribal administrator Sharon Svarny-Livingston said that as the city runs out of space to store its garbage on the island, the need for recycling in Unalaska is becoming more and more urgent.

"Our landfill is not going to last for forever," she said. "So anything that can be done to extend the life of the landfill, we're all for."

The Qawalangin tribe ran a recycling program in Unalaska from 2000 to 2002. The program was profitable, in part because the Ounalashka Corporation donated building space and the shipping company Sea Land shipped the recycled materials to Seattle for free. But the program was discontinued when the tribe, which was under different leadership at the time, failed to meet the city's reporting requirements.

The new plan would be less comprehensive than the old recycling program, but Svarny-Livingston said it's a sensible place to start, and it follows the recommendations of the city's recycling committee.

When the proposal was discussed at the City Council's meeting on Tuesday, some council members expressed concern with some specific items in the proposed budget, and most of them said they wanted the program to be self-sustaining after its first year. Svarny-Livingston thinks this could happen, and noted that the tribe can apply for Native-specific grants that the city wouldn't be able to get on its own. But she said the tribe is still early in the planning process, and hasn't asked the native corporation or shipping companies for help yet.

Outgoing City Council member Alyssa McDonald, who was on the city's recycling committee, said that she liked what the tribe has proposed, and that the time is right for a new program.

"I think the fervor for recycling is really rising," she said. "I think now it's up to the education to bring it right down to the school-grade level."

The tribe will submit a business plan for the recycling program to the City Council at its next meeting, on October 24.