The brand new sorting center in Lachine has been sending thousands of tons of recyclable products to the landfill since its inauguration in 2019, due to technical problems with its machinery, learned The Press.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
The waste from the center – destined for landfill – is even made up mostly of recyclable products, according to an expert report commissioned by its operator.
Ricova, the company in question, blames the supplier of the sorting machinery for these problems and is now demanding $5.5 million to buy new equipment. In legal proceedings, Ricova alleges that the equipment sold by the specialized equipment manufacturer Machinex is unable to adequately manage plastic bags and stops frequently.
“The equipment is affected by significant defects”, alleges Ricova in court. The City of Montreal has refused for two and a half years to take possession of the sorting center because its performance is too low.
For example, the rejection of the sorting center that takes the road to the dump “is made up on average of 60% of materials that are recyclable (in particular 25% fibers and 26% plastics)”, according to a report by the specialized firm Novaxia , commissioned by Ricova as part of the legal proceedings.
According to the calculations of The Press based on data from the report, more than 5,000 tonnes of recyclable materials went to landfill between August 2020 and May 2021.
The report also describes how plastic bags seep into bundles of paper or packaging, reducing their quality and increasing the risk of them ending up in the garbage.
Buried bags too
On the other hand, some well-sorted recyclables still end up in the landfill, the report reveals. This is particularly the case for the vast majority of the hundreds of tons of plastic bags and film that arrive at the centre. “From 2019 to 2021, opportunities for bags and film were almost non-existent,” the report says. The quantities sold remain marginal (79 tonnes from August 2020 to May 2021), and the balance of bags and film […] ultimately ended up in a technical landfill. »
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Poorly sorted, plastic bags can end up in bundles of paper or packaging.
In the court case, Machinex argues that the material entering the Lachine sorting center differs from what it was told when placing the order for the machine in 2017, hence some performance issues. It has more packaging and less newsprint than expected. Ricova replies that this is an underlying trend in the industry that Machinex should have taken into account.
Above all, the equipment manufacturer claims not to have been fully paid for its products and ensures that it works continuously to try to adjust its equipment.
Ricova and Machinex did not want to comment publicly on the case due to contractual obligations or because it was in court.
Quality issues
The serious problems at the Lachine sorting center came to light last Wednesday. The director of the City of Montreal’s Environment Department revealed to elected municipal officials that the municipality had not yet taken possession of the facilities, which were inaugurated with great fanfare in 2019, due to performance problems.
“We expect a certain level of quality from the recyclable materials leaving the sorting centre. The level of quality expected in the contract has not yet been fully achieved, said civil servant Roger Lachance. That’s why we didn’t do the provisional acceptance of the sorting centre. »
The installation is therefore considered to be “in a trial period” since 2019. The three-year operating contract will only begin once the key has been accepted by the City.
“We are using all the necessary levers, contractually speaking, to move things in the right direction,” added Mr. Lachance.
“A gesture of collaboration” from the City
Last fall, Montreal intervened in the legal dispute which notably involves Ricova and Machinex. In its request, the City reveals that it paid Ricova as if it had taken possession of the center, between 2019 and May 2021, “in a gesture of collaboration”. She has since stopped and threatened Ricova with legal action if the situation does not improve.
“To date, despite the considerable public funds invested [34,5 millions], despite the adjustments made by Machinex and after almost two years of activity, the equipment still does not meet the performance criteria,” the city says impatiently in its request.
The case is complicated by the fact that the company that signed the contract with the City of Montreal, Rebuts Solids Canadiens (RSC), went bankrupt in 2020, despite the check for 30 million received from Montreal to try to keep it. flow. Its competitor Ricova, already involved in collecting recycling and exporting bales of recyclables, has taken over.