The companies that are members of the Council of Environmental Technology Companies of Quebec (CETEQ) that operate technical landfills (LET) provide the Quebec population with essential services for the protection of the environment and for the maintenance of clean and healthy living environments. In response to certain remarks published recently on the subject of brown bins, which in turn undermined the environmental performance of LETs, the CETEQ wishes to recall the environmental responsibilities incumbent on companies operating LETs.
Today, LETs are veritable technology parks managed by companies that integrate a variety of activities ranging from the collection of different categories of waste to the packaging of recyclable materials, including composting and the production of renewable natural gas (RNG). Far are the 1970s when Quebec had real dumps. These were closed and gave way to sanitary landfills (LES) in the 1980s, then to technical landfills (LET) in 2006. In fact, the landfilling activities of residues generated by the Quebec population are subject to a regulatory framework that has profoundly evolved to now be among the most rigorous in North America.1.
It should be noted that large-capacity LETs are equipped with highly secure installations for the environment, in particular thanks to systems for capturing and treating leaching water in order to prevent any contamination of the water table and groundwater.
In addition, large-capacity LETs are subject to the obligation not to discharge biogas (essentially composed of methane) into the atmosphere. The biogas produced by the decomposition of putrescible materials which, for one reason or another, end up in the landfill, is therefore sucked up by a complete collection network. Thus, the technical landfills operated by CETEQ member companies comply with the regulations in force in Quebec and many are already converting biogas into renewable natural gas, used to replace natural gas of fossil origin. The efficient management of biogas by companies operating high-capacity LETs has definitely contributed to the reduction of GHG emissions from the waste sector. This recorded a drop of 16.6% between 1990 and 20192.
Currently, all the sites where the large-capacity LETs are located in the greater Montreal area have or will soon have infrastructure for the treatment of organic materials, particularly from brown bins. This means that companies in the sector are constantly investing and innovating to implement solutions with the aim of achieving the objectives that we have set ourselves collectively, in line with the Organic Matter Recovery Strategy and the Residual Materials Management Plans. Overcoming the environmental challenges of waste management requires everyone’s contribution, hence the importance of recognizing everyone’s contribution, in particular all CETEQ member companies that contribute to the circular economy by diverting as much material as possible from disposal.
1. Regulation respecting the landfilling and incineration of residual materials (REIMR) resulting from the Environmental Quality Act (LQE)
2. Quebec inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 and their evolution since 1990, GES 1990-2019, Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (2021)