Quebec promises new measures to reduce the amount of waste generated in the province, in the wake of the publication of new data showing that the upward trend continues.
“We still bury too much in Quebec,” said Thursday the Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, Benoit Charette.
The amount of waste “disposed of” in a landfill or incinerator stood at 716 kilograms (kg) per capita in 2021, shows the 2019-2021 residual materials management report from the Société québécoise de libération and recycling (Recyc-Québec).
Quebec aims to reduce this rate to 525 kg per capita by the end of 2023, an objective that Minister Charette still considers achievable.
Residual materials management is “probably the area that has had the most legislative and regulatory intervention” during the first term of the CAQ government, says the minister, referring in particular to the increase in the “disposal” fee. of waste, increased to $30 per tonne on 1er last January.
The reforms of selective collection and deposit should also make a significant difference, according to him, but “we must give time to these measures. [de porter fruit] “, their entry into force being respectively scheduled for 2025 and next November.
But “the work is not finished” and these actions alone will not be enough, acknowledges Minister Charette.
“That’s why other projects will be announced over the next year”, especially on plastics, he says.
“Constraints” required
The construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) sector is doing particularly badly by sending more than half of its waste to disposal, shows the results of Recyc-Québec.
“To reverse the trend, it takes constraints and obligations: voluntary initiatives are no longer enough,” said Amélie Côté, analyst in reduction at the source of the environmental organization Équiterre.
Eco-taxation measures, binding reuse targets for objects and materials, a ban on the marketing of certain non-recyclable containers and packaging, and even obligations regarding the durability and repairability of objects put on the market are all solutions, she lists.
Amélie Côté recalls the conclusions of the commission of inquiry of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) on the management of ultimate waste, in January 2022, to the effect that recycling is no longer enough to reduce our waste.
“The time for pilot projects is over,” she says. We need a change of scale and a systematization of solutions. »
The minister will stand up to the “very, very powerful” anti-destination lobby
Quebec will not back down on the reform of the deposit, no offense to some retailers who continue to hope to be able to avoid it. “It’s one of the very, very powerful lobbies we’ve had to face in recent years,” said Minister Benoit Charette on Thursday. “It’s been 40 years, essentially, that these lobbies have succeeded in derailing all the reforms of the locker that have been mentioned, but this time, there is no going back”, a- he added. Only a lack of availability of devices recovering returnable containers could lead to a further postponement of the entry into force of the reform, now scheduled for next November, but there is no indication that this problem will arise, assured the minister.
With Tommy Chouinard
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- 5.8 million
- tonnes of waste sent for disposal in 2021 in Quebec
source: Quebec Society for Recovery and Recycling (Recyc-Québec)
- 1 million
- tons of recyclable materials recovered in 2021 in Quebec
source: Quebec Society for Recovery and Recycling (Recyc-Québec)
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- 4.6 million
- tons of organic matter recovered in 2021 in Quebec
source: Quebec Society for Recovery and Recycling (Recyc-Québec)