Residual Materials Management Report | Always more waste

More waste. More recyclable materials. Quebec is still generating more residual materials and has moved away from its reduction target in 2021, according to data from Recyc-Québec obtained first by The Press.

Quebec is moving away from its reduction target

The amount of waste and recyclable materials generated in Quebec has increased in 2021, shows the most recent report from the Quebec Society for Recovery and Recycling (Recyc-Québec), which will be published this Thursday. Overview, in figures.

5.8 million tons of waste

Households and businesses in Quebec sent 5,766,000 tonnes of waste to “disposal”, in a landfill or incinerator, in 2021 – a figure that excludes sludge from sewage treatment plants and paper mills. This is an increase of 8% compared to the previous balance sheet, in 2018, which was itself on the rise. “Construction, renovation and demolition waste” is the main cause of this new increase (see text at tab 4), while municipal waste recorded a decrease of 5%.

716 kg/capita

The quantity of waste “eliminated” thus stood at 716 kilograms (kg) per inhabitant, including sludge, continuing an upward trend. Quebec is therefore moving even further away from the objective of 525 kg per inhabitant by the end of 2023 that the Legault government has set itself.

1 million tonnes of recyclable materials recovered

Quebec not only generates more waste, but it also generates more recyclable materials that must be disposed of: 1,058,000 tonnes in 2021, an increase of nearly 7% compared to 2018. Recyc-Québec attributes this increase to the impact of telework and “the increase in online purchases with home delivery”, which generate a lot of packaging.

Less than half of recycled materials

Only 47% of materials from municipal selective collections are “sent for recycling” after passing through a sorting centre. This is down from 52% in 2018. These rates are likely overstated, given that one-third of these materials are exported outside of North America, where it is impossible to know what really happens.

And 1 million tons straight to the trash

Not all recyclable materials are put in the recycling bin: 1 million tonnes of containers, packaging or paper were sent directly for disposal in 2021, estimates Recyc-Québec based on the conclusions of a characterization study. More than half came from the institutions, businesses and industries (ICI) sector. Added to this are 3,000 tons of recyclable materials that had been recovered, but which were ultimately sent for disposal by sorting centers for various reasons, including the lack of manpower.

4.6 million tons of organic matter

The rate of recycling of organic materials, by composting or biomethanation, in particular, is increasing sharply, to 56% in 2021, compared to 48% in 2018. %, while the rate for the residential sector was 47%. The total quantity of organic matter generated in Quebec decreased to 4.6 million tonnes in 2021, compared to 5.2 million tonnes in 2018, a drop that Recyc-Québec attributes in particular to the closure of several public places during the pandemic and to a decrease in traffic since.

$30

It costs more since 1^er January to send waste to landfill or incineration. Quebec has increased the disposal charge to $30 per tonne, a 24% increase over 2022. This charge will be indexed by $2 per year. Quebec has also introduced a partial royalty on the use of residual materials as covering material in landfill sites, in particular glass, which corresponds to one-third of the disposal royalty.

Challenges that go beyond the will of citizens, according to Recyc-Québec

Reduction at the source and better design of products put on the market are necessary for Quebec to succeed in reducing the quantity of residual materials it generates, according to Recyc-Québec.

“We absolutely have to review our consumption and our production,” said Sophie Langlois-Blouin, vice-president responsible for the performance of operations at the government corporation, in an interview with The Pressahead of the publication of the report on the management of residual materials in Quebec for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Products must be “eco-designed” to last longer and be recyclable at the end of their useful life, she illustrates, recognizing that Quebec is not on the right track.

“We should be towards decreases” in the residual materials generated, while the balance sheet for the last three years is on the rise, like the previous one.

Citizen will is there, however, since 97% of people systematically or most of the time recover recyclable materials, underlines the results of Recyc-Québec.

The recovery of organic materials has also experienced “a significant leap” in recent years with the proliferation of collection services, underlines Mr.^me Langlois, who is delighted that the rate of “recycling” of these materials, by composting or biomethanation, is approaching the objective of 60% for 2023.

But Quebec originally aspired to reach this threshold… in 2008.

“Citizens do the right things; they participate in collections, they go more and more to the ecocentre, but we are seeing increases in terms of the quantities disposed of by businesses and the construction, renovation and demolition sector,” observes Ms.^me Langlois-Blouin.

This sector represents “a significant challenge”, she says (see text at tab 4).

Possible changes in the short term?

Recyc-Québec’s findings echo those of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), which concluded in its report on the management of “ultimate residues” in January 2022 that recycling is no longer enough to reduce our waste.

The reforms to selective collection and the deposit on beverage containers adopted by the Legault government should make it possible to reverse the upward trend in the generation of residual materials in Quebec, believes Sophie Langlois-Blouin.

But these changes will not be felt in the next report of Recyc-Québec, for the years 2022 and 2023, since the reform of the deposit must come into force in November 2023 and that of the selective collection, in 2025.

Construction sector: residues more often disposed of than recovered

Residues from the construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) sector sent directly for disposal in 2021 alone represent 118 kg per capita.

This is 16% of the total waste per capita, which amounted to 716 kg

“CRD waste generators still seem to choose disposal more than recovery,” reads Recyc-Québec’s balance sheet, which reports that this sector shipped 1,018,000 tonnes directly to landfill or incinerator. of residual materials in 2021, an increase of 21% compared to 2018.

Some 339,000 tons of construction waste rejected by specialized sorting centers were also eliminated, an increase of 161%.

Finally, there are nearly 650,000 tonnes of construction waste thrown away in municipal collections or private collections serving institutions, businesses and industries (ICI).

“There is still far too much construction, renovation and demolition waste that goes directly to disposal, that does not even pass through a sorting center,” says Sophie Langlois-Blouin, vice-president responsible for operations performance. of Recyc-Quebec.

As for citizens, improving the management of residual materials by companies in the construction sector requires support and better access to services, says Ms.^me Langlois-Blouin.

“The smallest or medium-sized businesses want to make a move, but sometimes don’t know where to start,” she says, adding that some regions don’t have sorting centers or outlets for building materials.

Burned to generate energy

Of the 1,219 tonnes of CRD sector material that left a sorting center in 2021, 53% was ultimately sent to disposal sites, where a small fraction was used as covering material or road construction. of access.

The remaining 47% was “sent for recycling and energy recovery”.

Thus, 232,000 tons of materials were burned to generate energy, mainly wood and, to a lesser extent, roofing shingles.

Only 260,600 tons of materials, or 21% of the total, were actually recycled, mainly aggregates, such as concrete, and, to a lesser extent, wood and metals.

Ironically, wood conditioning and recycling companies have to import a large part of the materials they use, for example to manufacture melamine or soundproofing panels, underlines Recyc-Québec’s report, which invokes the price and ” variable quality” of wood from Quebec facilities.