Lachine Sorting Center | Collection in danger, Montreal changes sorter

After months of dispute, Montreal will terminate its main contract with the recycler Ricova, learned The Press. The drop too many: the company threatens to close the largest sorting center on the island, at the risk of forcing the interruption of the collection of green bins in a large part of the metropolis.

Philippe Teisceira-Lessard
The Press

Ricova, which until now has a virtual monopoly on recycling in Montreal, claims to be at breaking point: it has been unable to dispose of the bales of cardboard that have been piling up at the exit of its sorting lines since several months. They contain too much plastic waste: up to 25% contamination, according to our information.

“We are running out of time and we are becoming desperate,” wrote Dominic Colubriale – Ricova’s big boss – in a September 6 letter to the City, a copy of which we obtained. “In Lachine, we have outdoor storage space for about 4 days after which we will have to close the plant. “The same situation will prevail in Saint-Michel [l’autre centre de tri de Montréal] in less than a week if solutions are not found,” he adds. Ricova does not mention it directly, but such closures would risk interrupting recycling collection, since recycling trucks could not unload.

The City says it refuses to be taken hostage by a company. Her lawyers told Ricova on Tuesday morning that she would turn to a new operator for her Lachine sorting center in the short term, learned The Press.

“As we were faced with an imminent breach of contract, that put us in a position to terminate the contract,” said a source at Montreal City Hall. She was not allowed to speak openly due to legal complications in the case.

Two municipal sources confirm that the termination process has begun. Ricova will, however, retain its operating contract for the Saint-Michel sorting center, as well as its recycling collection contracts. In addition to operating the two sorting centres, the company is in fact responsible for picking up green bins in several areas of the island. “We are confident that the company will ensure the best possible transition,” said the same source.

Ricova declined to comment on the case on Tuesday. However, the company sent The Press a copy of an agenda for a meeting with the municipal authorities held on August 31st. Ricova offers solutions to curb the crisis, including depositing the bundles in a warehouse provided by the City of Montreal or even “temporarily bringing all recycling to the landfill site”. Ricova also asks Montreal to put pressure on the federal customs authorities so that they stop blocking its merchandise.

The City tries to sell the bales

Ricova’s situation has gotten worse since last spring. The media exposed questionable practices by the company, including sending heavily contaminated bales to India and using a namesake company in Panama.

The Office of Inspector-General (OIG) of Montreal accused her of having deceived the City by concealing income through its corporate structure. His report could have justified the immediate termination of Ricova’s municipal contracts, but the Montreal executive committee preferred to ban the company from obtaining any new contract for a period of five years. Ricova is challenging the report in court.

Since these setbacks, Canadian customs authorities have been scrutinizing the recycling bales that Ricova is trying to export, according to Mr. Colubriale’s letter.

As for the domestic market, bales of paper and cardboard are too contaminated to interest Quebec paper companies. According to our information, the City has even contacted companies like Cascades and Kruger on behalf of Ricova, in recent weeks, to try to relieve the sorting centers of a certain number of bales of recycled paper.

“We remain convinced by experience that there is no internal market for the quantities we produce,” Colubriale wrote.

Built at a cost of $45 million by the City of Montreal, the Lachine sorting center was inaugurated in 2019 by the Mayor of Montreal. The use of modern equipment promised to replace the dilapidated installations on which the metropolis depended in order to improve the quality of sorting and therefore the value of the bales. However, the facilities never achieved the performance stipulated in the contract, and the City never formally took possession of them.

Under contract to manage the establishment, Ricova blames the manufacturer of the sorting machinery installed in the sorting center. According to our information, the City believes that Ricova does not employ enough manpower to adequately perform the sorting.

A designated buyer

According to our information, lawyers for the City of Montreal believe that no new call for tenders is necessary to replace Ricova at the Lachine sorting center.

In 2020, a contract was concluded between Montreal and Société Via to operate these facilities. Via, however, had been beaten by Ricova for legal reasons related to a recovery from bankruptcy.

It is therefore Via that would take over the operation of the Lachine sorting center. It is a non-profit organization aimed at integrating people with disabilities into the workplace. The organization already operates four sorting centers in the province: Lévis, Québec, Rivière-du-Loup and Saguenay. Lachine would become his largest facility.

The opposition to Montreal City Hall denounced yet another “failure” in the difficult relationship between the metropolis and its main recycler.

“The environment seems to be more of a slogan for the Plante administration than anything else,” asserted Alan DeSousa, mayor of the borough of Saint-Laurent. “They have demonstrated a flagrant lack of competence in this matter and a flagrant lack of transparency. »

In his opinion, Mayor Valérie Plante must make amends and admit the mistakes made in the recycling file.

“There are thousands of Montrealers who, in good faith, recycle and believe that these materials are going to be used for the right reasons,” he said. The administration must publicly apologize for its lack of rigor, its lack of competence in this matter. The administration must be accountable for its actions. »

2022, the painful year by Ricova

Since the start of 2022, the tiles have been piling up for Ricova and its Montreal operations. Retrospective of this year to forget for the company.

January

Without fanfare, the City reveals that it never took possession of its Lachine sorting center – inaugurated in 2019 – due to performance problems. Expert reports reveal that thousands of tons of recycling end up in the dump.

February

The show Investigation reveals that bales of paper sorted in Montreal end up in industrial regions of India, where they are re-sorted. Plastic is poorly managed there, sometimes even burned in artisanal ovens. The same month, The Press reveals that a lawsuit alleges that Ricova funnels some of its transactions through a subsidiary in Panama.

March

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of Montreal releases a report in which it accuses Ricova of concealing recycling revenues in its corporate structure. The City would thus have lost significant sums in profit sharing related to the resale of the bales. The company denies and retaliates with a lawsuit.

May

The executive committee of the City of Montreal bans Ricova from obtaining any future contract until 2027. Current contracts remain valid, however.