Pilot 1 backhaul shipments wrapped up in November 2019 when shipments from the final two Pilot 1 communities Golovin and Unalakleet were received by recycling vendors in Seattle, WA. Both communities received onsite assistance by Backhaul Alaska Regional Coordinator, Vanessa Tahbone (Environmental Coordinator at Kawerak Inc.) to help prepare the shipments. Upon arrival, one of our recycling vendors mentioned that “the trailers that arrived were the best we have ever seen…Thank you for all what a difference you have made!!”

Overall, for the Backhaul Alaska Pilot 1 phase, over 73,000 lbs of end-of-life electronics, lead acid batteries, and fluorescent lamps were backhauled from 9 rural Alaska communities. Materials were sent to vendors for recycling in the lower 48 states. For the Pilot 2 phase, the Program anticipates the backhaul of over 200,000 lbs of recyclables from 15 rural communities.