The burial of waste in recent years has experienced “a marked increase”, underlined the Bureau of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE), at the start of the year. To reverse the trend, the government corporation Recyc-Québec wants to encourage reduction at source and promote circular economy initiatives, because recycling is not the only solution.
Sonia Gagné, President and CEO of Recyc-Québec, has been at the head of the organization for four years. She arrived in the post in the midst of “the turmoil of the recycling crisis”, she says, explaining that progress has been made since.
“We worked at the beginning to support the sorting centers, but we also went there with structuring measures: in particular the modernization of sorting centers, but also more in depth, by even reviewing selective collection, deposit and by deploying the management of organic matter more vigorously,” she points out.
Except that all these efforts have not been enough to reduce the quantity of waste going directly to the landfill or to incineration in Quebec. Between 2015 and 2019 (the most recent data available), the number of residual waste disposed of increased by just over 9%, noted the BAPE in its report, entitled The inventory and the management of ultimate residuespublished in January.
In 2019, the amount of residual materials disposed of reached 724 kilograms per capita, the highest amount observed since 2011 – a level well above the government’s ambition to reach 525 kg per capita in 2023.
One solution among others
“There is progress that has been made, but we agree that the pace must be accelerated”, recognizes Mme Won, in response to the BAPE report. “We think that the programs that are underway are very aligned [avec les constats du rapport] and we are very open to accepting any other mandate that the government would like to give us to ensure that we achieve this objective of a Quebec without waste, which for me is not a utopia,” she continues.
To achieve this, recycling is only one solution among many others, insists the CEO of Recyc-Québec. Despite a name that can “be confusing”, admits Mme Won, the organization develops programs to work upstream of recycling and opt for a strategy of reduction at source.
Some progress has been made, but we agree that the pace must be accelerated
Among other things, the organization has financed projects such as La Tablée des chefs for the reduction of food waste or companies such as Insertech for the repair and reuse of computer equipment. “Currently, our investments are devoted to supporting and supervising the new extended producer responsibilities (EPR)”, explains Ms.me Won.
Among other things, it is necessary to promote the circular economy with industrial symbioses “so that the waste of one company is the raw material of another”, but it is also necessary to work on eco-design, pleads Mme Won. “We have to work upstream. The producer is responsible for the packaging he puts on the market and must ensure that this packaging will find a second life,” she illustrates.
“The citizen is doing a good job”
The director of Recyc-Québec insists on several occasions: the citizen must not be discouraged. “The citizen is doing a good job. The proof is that 97% of Quebecers today say they recycle systematically or on a regular basis, and 53% of households have a brown bin,” says Ms.me Gagné, who also notices an increased enthusiasm for the resale and second-hand trend since the start of the pandemic.
“There are two major waste generators for landfills. These are businesses, institutions and industries, and the construction, renovation and demolition materials sector. This is where, among other things, we must work as a priority to reduce waste at source,” believes Ms.me Won.