The recycling giant Ricova, accused by the Office of Inspector General (BIG) of having appropriated several million that should have been paid to the City of Montreal, denies having cheated its client.
Posted at 12:19 p.m.
On the contrary, “the City has never made so much money, thanks to recycling, as in the last 14 months when Ricova has donated 5.8 million dollars to it”, affirms the CEO of the company, Dominic Colubriale, in a statement released Wednesday.
In a devastating report published on Monday, the BIG criticizes Ricova for selling materials recovered in the metropolis abroad without handing over its fair share of revenues to the City, which would justify the termination of contracts with the company, which holds the virtual monopoly of recycling in Montreal.
Ricova operates the two sorting centers in Montreal (Lachine and Saint-Michel), in addition to providing collection in several boroughs. The City pays Ricova to sort recyclable materials. Then, the contract provides that the Brossard company shares with the municipal administration the income or losses resulting from the sale of these materials.
However, Services Ricova, which operates the sorting centers, sells all the materials to a single customer, a company in the same group called Ricova International. Dominic Colubriale would thus sell the materials to himself, at a good price. It is this price that would be used to share revenues with the City, denounces the BIG in its report.
“This business model has never posed a problem for the City since during the 20 years preceding the takeover of the operations of Montreal sorting centers by Ricova, Montreal never questioned the profits that Ricova was making. International during the resale, ”retorts Mr. Colubriale in his press release.
“Insofar as Ricova RSC and Ricova Lachine have respected the contracts to the letter, the City does not have to question the profits made by Ricova International, an entity completely separate from the sorting centres. »
He maintains that the prices at which the materials were sold to Ricova International favor the City of Montreal, and that the contract to operate the Lachine and Saint-Michel sorting centers has enabled the City and its citizens to save several million dollars compared to previous contractors.
According to him, the accusations in the OIG report demonstrate a misunderstanding of the functioning of the recycling value chain. “Sorting centers are not equipped to set up an international network for recycling sorted materials, which requires complex infrastructure and documentation,” he says. In this sense, Ricova International has always been a constant and reliable partner, but above all, it has always offered the best prices to sorting centers, compared to the only two other Quebec companies that offer the same services. »