Deposit on wine and spirits bottles: ÉEQ invites Manon Massé and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois to visit a sorting centre
In response to the petition to expand the deposit system to wine and spirits bottles, Maryse Vermette, president and chief executive officer of Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ), has extended an invitation to Manon Massé and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois to visit the new glass processing facilities: “By visiting a sorting centre, they will see that the issue they have spoken out against is in the process of being resolved through the investments made under ÉEQ’s Innovative Glass Works plan and that there is no need to implement a new deposit system.”
Since September 2017, five Québec sorting centres have been involved in experimental pilot projects and already installed new glass sorting equipment (Québec, Gaspésie, Chaudière-Appalaches, Lanaudière). The preliminary results are very positive. Indeed, they indicate that the output glass is 97% pure.
When considering the glass processed by the sorting centres and conditioners, it is estimated that nearly 50% of the glass collected in Québec is currently recycled. The glass that is transformed into abrasives, mineral wool, cement additive and water filtering agents fully satisfies Québec’s definition of recycling: the use of recovered material in the place of an original resource in a manufacturing process.
That said, ÉEQ is also working in collaboration with partners to achieve a glass recycling rate of 100% with a view to support a circular economy. In recent years, significant progress has been made, and the efforts to develop a green economy that yields economic and environmental benefits across Québec are ongoing. The Innovative Glass Works plan also aims to recycle glass for remelting to supply the Owens Illinois plant in Montréal.
“The invitation we are extending to Ms. Massé and Mr. Nadeau-Dubois today was also issued to the main unions that are seeking a deposit on wine and spirits bottles. The visit was the opportunity to clearly explain the impacts of our investments, as well as the progress in the quantities of recycled glass and technological advances that have been made. We look forward to presenting these same positive elements to the MNAs,” explained Maryse Vermette.
The translation of the full text of the invitation follows.
June 13, 2018
Ms. Manon Massé Mr. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
MNA for Sainte-Marie—Saint-Jacques MNA for Gouin
Dear Ms. Massé:
Dear Mr. Nadeau-Dubois:
For all the employees at Éco Entreprises Québec, glass recycling, reuse and recovery constitute a daily concern, and we invest every effort necessary to reach our realistic—but ambitious—objectives. We recognize the work of our partners and all those who have taken an interest in this key challenge with regard to the quality of our environment. It was therefore with great interest that we were informed of your position on the topic with the filing of a petition seeking a deposit on wine and spirits bottles.
As you know, the Innovative Glass Works plan announced by Éco Entreprises Québec in January 2016 aims to find a concrete solution for 100% of the glass recovered through curbside collection in Québec. More specifically, the plan includes investments to modernize the province’s sorting centres through experimental pilot projects to generate glass of higher quality, as well as support the organizations working to develop new ecomaterials and commercial applications that integrate the output glass.
To ensure the success of the Innovative Glass Works plan, Éco Entreprises Québec in collaboration with RECYC-QUÉBEC have assembled a follow-up committee that brings together a number of industry partners and representatives from the municipal and environmental sectors. The plan calls for investments totalling over $10M, and the preliminary results of our pilot projects are exceedingly encouraging. While we respect your position, we firmly believe that we are on track to resolve the environmental issue arising from glass recycling in Québec without a deposit on wine and spirits bottles.
In this regard, it would be our pleasure to welcome you for a visit of our new installations in a sorting centre so that you may see the unparalleled quality of the glass that is currently sorted in Québec for yourselves. Of course, interested media may join us.
I hope to have the opportunity to meet with you very soon.
Best regards,
Maryse Vermette
President and Chief Executive Officer
About the Innovative Glass Works plan
Announced in January 2016, ÉEQ’s Innovative Glass Works plan aims to find a concrete solution for 100% of the glass recovered through curbside collection in Québec. More specifically, the plan calls for investments to modernize the province’s sorting centres through experimental pilot projects to generate glass of higher quality, as well as support the organizations working to develop new ecomaterials and commercial applications that integrate the output glass. The following sorting centres are enrolled in experimental pilot projects:
- Régie intermunicipale de traitement des matières résiduelles de la Gaspésie in Grande-Rivière (Gaspésie)
- EBI Environnement inc. in Saint-Paul (Lanaudière)
- Centre de tri de Québec operated by Société VIA (Capitale-Nationale)
- Tricentris — tri, transformation, sensibilisation in Terrebonne (Lanaudière)
- Récupération Frontenac in Thetford Mines (Chaudière-Appalaches).
These five sorting centres process approximately 25% of all the glass containers that Quebecers place in their recycling bins. The centres will generate processed glass of unmatched purity in two particle sizes to re-melt containers and bottles and transform them into a number of ecomaterials with significant added value, including abrasives, mineral wool, cement and concrete additives, ornamental mulch, water filtering and filling agents, green paving stone and cellular glass for infrastructures and sports fields.
Source: Éco Entreprises Québec
Information
Arielle Mathieu
514 260-4372
amathieu@octanestrategies.com