A Quebec standard hinders the adoption of a technology developed here thanks to funding from the Quebec government. The process makes it possible to extract 70% of the organic matter from the garbage bags, a performance superior to the brown bin system, claim the cities that want to adopt it.
“The mayors are worried,” concedes Éric Maheux, director general of the Beauce-Sud county intermunicipal board. “In our territory, municipalities would like to choose a more efficient process than the brown bin system. [pour recueillir les matières organiques], but if they make this choice, they lose the royalties from the Quebec government. »
The process Mr. Maheux is talking about is TRIOM, a technology used by Viridis, a Sollio Groupe company, formerly La Coop fédérée. The process extracts organic matter from the garbage bags through a series of operations that ultimately dry the “garbage juice” in compost bins. The compost that comes out of the treatment is then distributed to farmers.
In service since 2021, the Viridis pilot plant — located in Saint-Côme-Linière in Beauce — has shown that it is possible to recover more than 70% of the organic matter from household waste, which results in a 40% reduction in residual materials ending up in a landfill, according to company data. And this, without resorting to a third collection, that of the brown bins.
However, the government only grants royalties to municipalities that set up a “sorting at source” system. As a result, mechanical-biological treatment systems (MBT) — such as the TRIOM process — are excluded. For the municipalities of the region, this represents a shortfall of nearly $450,000 annually if they decide to opt for this technology.
“Equal or even better” results
Mr. Maheux misunderstands the government’s approach. “When you use a brown bin system, you’re dependent on what people put in there. With the Viridis process, we make sure to divert organic matter and, in addition, by rummaging through the waste, we can take the recyclable materials that are there, such as plastic, cardboard or iron. »
Vice-president of operations at Recyc-Québec, Sophie Langlois-Blouin says: “One of the purposes of sorting at the source is to have cleaner, more homogeneous materials, therefore to tend towards less contamination, but also to promote the quality of the final product, either the compost or the digestate, and to ensure that the material is indeed recycled in a market and that it returns to the soil and that it has a good agronomic value in particular. »
Regarding the Viridis project, Mr.me Langlois-Blouin recalls that Recyc-Québec financially supports the initiative. “So it’s a sign that we want to document the performance of technologies like this. But these technologies can also complement, in a given territory, a system based on brown bins. »
“Whether or not our technology is eligible is equivalent to its life or death in Quebec,” retorts Simon Naylor, Viridis Processing and Transformation Vice-President. “Our technology, for unfair economic reasons, risks being set aside for many years. Because if the municipalities choose another solution, it will be for several years. »
He adds: “The results are equal to, or even exceed, the performance expectations established when we applied for scholarships from the Ministère de l’Économie and Recyc-Québec, which were granted to us. Through these intermediaries, the government injected 2.25 million dollars for the construction of the Saint-Côme-Linière plant, that is to say more than half of the total costs, which reach 4 million.
The most efficient
The MRC de l’Érable, which brings together a dozen municipalities – including Plessisville and Princeville – also hopes that the government will review its parameters. Like the municipalities of Beauce, those it represents want to turn to a TMB solution. “And for us, mechanical-biological treatment is obviously the most effective,” says Ézéchiel Simoneau, sustainable development advisor for the MRC.
Whether or not our technology is eligible is equivalent to its life or death in Quebec. […] Because if the municipalities choose another solution, it will be for several years.
Between 2017 and 2020, the MRC de l’Érable participated in a TMB pilot project overseen by the Center de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ). Observation: this made it possible to recover more organic matter than the brown bin system, and the quality of the compost met the standards for use in agriculture.
But cities in the region currently face a difficult choice, he notes: they too must choose between a TMB process and annual royalties which, in their case, total “about $250,000”.
Mr. Simoneau would like to point out that the deployment of a brown bin system requires the establishment of a third collection, in addition to those for recycling and waste. “And in a context of labor shortage, this is a very concrete element to consider in a territory like ours. Before adding: “By having two collections instead of three, it reduces the number of trucks on the road, therefore emissions”.
Remember that in 2020, the Quebec government had to lower the objective of recovering organic matter by 2030, dropping it from 100% to 70%.