(Joliette) To prevent the large waste that citizens want to get rid of from ending up in the dump, the MRC de Joliette lends them an electric van. They can thus bring them to its ecocentre, where two-thirds of the materials received are recycled.
Greyness, rain, wind, nothing stops the citizen wishing to clear the way. On this chilly Thursday afternoon, large trucks and small trailers loaded with furniture and various materials follow one another at the ecocentre housed in the Joliette industrial park.
Citizens who do not have an adequate means of transportation for their oversized waste can call on the bulky waste collection, but everything that is picked up by the garbage collectors is sent to the landfill.
“The ultimate destination of bulky waste collections is disposal, and for me, that’s not a solution. I had to find alternative, innovative and concrete solutions,” says the director of planning and land management for the MRC, Mario Laquerre.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Mario Laquerre, director of planning and land management at the MRC de Joliette. “That’s only a week,” he says of the electronic waste piling up behind him.
The “alternative destination” already existed, since the ecocentre, managed by the MRC, recycles 65% of the approximately 3,000 tonnes of materials received each year.
Transportation Solution
What was added this fall is an alternative transportation solution — a sturdy but electric F-150 pickup truck, which the ecocentre lends free of charge to citizens of the seven municipalities of the MRC wishing to bring in their bulky items. This is a first in Quebec. After twenty days of service, the vehicle had already been borrowed by thirty residents.
“I’m not used to driving a van, I’ve never driven an electric car before, and I loved it. It was really a charm”, told us Violaine Pelletier, from Joliette.
When the bottom of her duplex flooded during torrential rains in mid-September, she was left with “an incredible amount of trash.” Flooring, lumber, furniture, clothes, papers, books, there were so many that she borrowed the electric van twice, for a total of seven loads.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY VIOLAINE PELLETIER
Violaine Pelletier was able to bring seven loads of waste to the ecocentre thanks to the van loaned by the MRC de Joliette.
It’s an innovative vision, and it meets several needs — the personal need for a truck, but also the ecological aspect of the thing, and the community aspect. I found us impressive, in Joliette!
Violaine Pelletier, user of the service
The white and green van bearing the inscription “Borrow this vehicle” has also aroused the curiosity of several neighbors, at least one of whom has promised to borrow it too.
“It’s part of the philosophy: we try to reduce greenhouse gases and at the same time, we make the electrification of transport known to a lot of citizens,” confirms Mr. Laquerre.
Ali Baba’s cave
This van is a reuse project in itself, since the engine of the vehicle was out of order. The MRC acquired it for $3,000, then paid $70,000 to have it electrified, a conversion half reimbursed by a grant.
The gain for the MRC comes not only from materials diverted from landfill, but also from transportation. Sending garbage collectors to pick up bulky items in front of a citizen’s residence, “it costs a fortune”, underlines Mr. Laquerre. “It’s two employees, often three. And do you know how much it consumes, a garbage truck? Up to 125 liters per 100 kilometers! It’s huge in terms of GHGs! »
The van, which can be reserved by phone or on the MRC’s website, is loaned for a maximum of three hours, solely to bring waste to the ecocentre. Its autonomy is about 160 kilometers, but it is forbidden to use it to move, shop or leave the MRC. The vehicle is equipped with a GPS which shows its location at all times.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Samuel Goyette, an employee of the ecocentre of the MRC de Joliette, carries one of the many televisions received each week.
At the beginning of October, the department received the Coup de Coeur award from the GMR Pro Program, which rewards municipal waste management initiatives. Since then, nearly fifteen localities have taken an interest in it, says Mr. Laquerre. The MRC will have more to say at the end of its two-year trial, during which the quantities of materials brought with the electric van, and the GHG emissions thus avoided, will be precisely calculated.
The MRC, which took over the management of the ecocentre in 2020, is also developing new outlets for the materials received. This ranges from sorting cedar branches, sent to an essential oil manufacturer, to restoring objects in good condition. Stools, chairs, fans, tripods and other small furniture and accessories are now offered free in two containers adorned with the sign Ali Baba’s cave. “It’s not open to the public. It’s open to those who come to wear materials, we want to reward them, ”says Mr. Laquerre.
“There is a limit to volunteering: try that with taxes, you will tell me if it works…”, however warns this urban planner by training, who teaches the management of residual materials at the master’s degree in environment from the University of Sherbrooke for 15 years.
To increase the proportion of material diverted from landfill, we would need “means that will allow us to go further,” he believes.
“As long as citizens have access to three collections and an ecocentre, it should be an obligation for them to use them. »