Posted at 11:54 a.m.
Updated at 3:01 p.m.
Quebec must stop relying mainly on recycling if it wants to reduce the amount of waste it generates, concludes the BAPE.
Imposing “eco-fees” on single-use products, prohibiting the marketing of certain materials and better informing citizens about the recyclability of consumer products are various avenues put forward by the organization in its report on the inventory and management of ultimate tailings, made public on Tuesday.
” The hierarchy [du principe guidant la gestion des matières résiduelles dite des 3RV-E], which prioritizes reduction at source, then reuse, recycling, recovery and finally disposal, must finally be applied correctly,” write commissioners Joseph Zayed and Pierre Renaud.
“However, it must be noted that recycling has been the centerpiece of the efforts made so far compared to the first two Rs, namely reduction and reuse”, they add, pointing out that Quebec has missed most of its objectives. reduction in waste so far.
The BAPE also recommends reviewing the mission of the Quebec Society for Recovery and Recycling (Recyc-Québec), so that it places reduction, reuse and the circular economy “at the heart of its objectives”.
We have a landfill problem because the necessary efforts have not been made upstream.
Joseph Zayed, chairman of the BAPE commission of inquiry
Dumps soon to be full
Ecotaxation must also be at the heart of the “action levers” to reduce the quantity of materials that end up in landfill or incineration, argues the BAPE.
The disposal fee, which is collected for each tonne of material eliminated, is one, but it appears “clearly insufficient to be a deterrent”, believe the commissioners.
At the current rate, 9 of the 38 technical landfills in Quebec will have reached their maximum capacity by 2030, and 13 others will reach it in the 2030s, warns the BAPE.
The quantity of residual materials eliminated per inhabitant reached 724 kg in Quebec in 2019, or 38% more than the objective of 525 kg set for 2023, the achievement of which appears “improbable”, according to the BAPE.
“It therefore seems obvious that new disposal sites or expansions of existing sites will have to be authorized in Quebec over the next 20 years” if nothing is done, can we read in the report.
Fix the problem at the source
The BAPE was originally supposed to focus on the issues surrounding waste disposal, but it went beyond this mandate by taking an interest in the problem upstream, believe the environmental groups consulted by The Press, who welcomed the report.
“The management of residual materials will not be solved by technology,” said the chairman of the commission of inquiry, Joseph Zayed, at a press conference.
“The commissioners have come to the conclusion that we cannot achieve the objectives [de réduction des déchets] without implementing source reduction solutions,” notes Amélie Côté, source reduction analyst at Équiterre.
The main message is that systemic solutions must be put in place beyond individual actions.
Amélie Côté, analyst at Équiterre
The message is “strong enough for the government,” said Karel Ménard, director general of the Quebec Common Front for Ecological Waste Management (FCQGED).
“We must stop having policies that just target recycling, we must have policies that target reduction,” he said, adding that this “new paradigm” will have to be accompanied by funding to be a success.
If we want to get out of our overproduction of waste one day, [la solution] is not to manage them once they are produced, but to avoid producing them upstream.
Karel Ménard, General Manager of the FCQGED
Long known solutions
The approach proposed by the BAPE is in no way revolutionary, “that’s what experts and environmental groups have been saying for years,” recalls Karel Ménard.
The BAPE itself does not fail to recall in its report that it recommended better recovery of waste during a previous commission of inquiry on the question… in 1997.
At the time, this report “marked a major turning point in the management of residual materials,” recalls Amélie Côté, who hopes for the same this time.
The possible solutions put forward in the report are the right ones, also believes Mathieu Laneuville, president and CEO of Réseau Environnement, a group of experts in the field.
“The principles are excellent, but we would like concrete measures,” he said, calling on the government to show “boldness”.
They said
The conclusions of the BAPE report “will be taken seriously [et] will guide the rest of our actions,” promised in a press release the Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, Benoit Charette. Acknowledging “that there is still a lot of work to be done”, Minister Charette affirms that he is already working in this direction, referring to the modernization of selective collection, the expansion of the deposit and the subjection to the principle of extended responsibility of producers of several products, such as large household appliances and rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles. The opposition reproached him for his contradictions.
When it comes to the environment, the CAQ does everything out of order; the Minister announced three landfill expansions before even reading the BAPE’s report and recommendations.
Isabelle Melançon, Quebec Liberal Party Critic for the Environment
The Minister should double down on his goals for composting and recycling by working more with municipalities rather than going over their bodies and imposing landfills on them, as he did in Drummondville last year. last year.
Émilise Lessard-Therrien, environmental spokesperson for Québec solidaire
This is a non-complacent report on the management of residual materials. We must act upstream, in particular by having a strong policy to use eco-taxation and also to counter planned obsolescence. This report should not be shelved, the Parti Québécois will see to the application of its recommendations.
Sylvain Gaudreault, Parti Québécois spokesperson for the environment
623
Number of pages of the BAPE report