This text is taken from our newsletter “Le Courrier de la Planète” of June 14, 2022. To subscribe, click here.
Has anything been done to improve recycling sorting in Montreal since the revelations of the last few months? asks Fabienne Vézina.
The City of Montreal is at loggerheads with Ricova, which manages recycling operations at sorting centers in Saint-Michel and Lachine. Last week, dissatisfied with the services provided, Montreal also put the company on its blacklist, thus making it ineligible to obtain contracts for five years. It could even terminate the contracts still in force, as recommended by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).
But what about the metals, plastics and papers that Montrealers recycle every week hoping to give them a second life? This is what concerns Fabienne Vézina, a reader of the Courrier de la Planète, who asked us if any improvements had been made to recycling operations after Ricova had been the subject of much criticism.
Recall that in a report filed in March, the BIG accused the company of having deceived the City and of having kept for itself the sum of $20 per ton of materials sold, which contravenes the contracts concluded with the City. . Although Ricova rejected these allegations, the BIG had recommended that the City terminate, as soon as possible, the contracts that bind it with the company.
A month earlier, a Radio-Canada report revealed that many bales of mixed paper produced at the Saint-Michel sorting center were 25% contaminated with other materials and that some of these bales were sent to India, where they served as fuel for highly polluting factories.
So, what about the quality of the bales of paper produced at the sorting centers in Saint-Michel and Lachine?
The City of Montreal never responded to our multiple requests for information. It must be said that Ricova threatened her with legal action in the event of the termination of her contracts.
Ricova, however, provided us with some details. The company is also careful to recall that it took over the operation of the Saint-Michel and Lachine sorting centers in August 2020, following the bankruptcy of the TIRU Group. “These are two sorting plants in poor condition, and even deteriorated, that she recovered”, we are told.
Ricova says it has invested more than $3 million in the Saint-Michel sorting center, which has reduced the bale contamination rate from 35% to less than 15%. This reduction was possible thanks in particular to the installation of five new optical sorters, underlines the company.
Ricova estimates that it could reduce the rate of bale contamination to less than 10%, or even 5%, by making other improvements. It has also undertaken the purchase of new equipment at a cost of $2 million.
The case of Lachine is a little different, insofar as Ricova does not own the sorting center and acts rather as an operator. The company alleges that the equipment sold by Machinex has major defects and says that it has tried to resolve the problems with the supplier, without success. In an effort to find a solution, she turned to other suppliers. A new investment of $4 million is also planned, but it will still have to get the green light from the City.
Ricova says she is working hard to improve the performance of the two sorting centers in Montreal. “However, there is no magic in sorting centers and the quality of recycling also depends on the volume and the material received. This is why Montrealers can trust sorting centers and must continue their sorting efforts upstream, they have an essential role in the quality of recycling. »