SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): Nearly half of Montreal's 19 boroughs aren't recycling glass, despite telling residents on the city website they can put it in their blue bin or bag.
Recycling in eight boroughs is taken to the sorting centre in the city's Saint-Michel neighbourhood, which is managed by the company Ricova. The 11 other boroughs' recycling goes to a new $47-million facility in Lachine, operated by another company contracted by the city, Société VIA.
Both sorting centres have had trouble separating glass from other recyclables, as well as cleaning it — but the Saint-Michel centre is the latest to have come under scrutiny for not even trying.
The 20,000 tonnes of glass Ricova collects in Montreal ends up in landfills or is ground into powder and used as landfill cover as a replacement for sand. Landfill cover is spread over garbage at the end of each day to minimize odours, flyaways and prevent animals from getting into it.
"It's basically glorified landfill," said recycling advocate Karel Ménard of using glass powder as landfill cover.
Ménard said the Quebec government has allowed the practice as a stopgap until it can implement better glass recycling measures. The government never limited the thickness of that cover, meaning it may often be higher than needed, he added.
The boroughs where Ricova collects recycling are: Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Montréal-Nord, Anjou, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Saint-Léonard and Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles.
Pierre Beaudoin, a Plateau resident, has been meticulously cleaning and recycling glass bottles for years.
"I am surprised to learn that there are so many boroughs that have this bad practice of making us believe that we are recycling," Beaudoin said. "It's disconcerting."
Plateau resident Pierre Beaudoin says he goes out of his way to clean and recycle glass bottles. (Jean-Philippe Robillard/Radio-Canada)
Ricova says it can't make the investment into better equipment since its contract with the city ends in 2024. The city isn't renewing that contract, and will be closing the Saint-Michel centre and replacing it with another one under construction in eastern Montreal.
Courtesy: www.cbc.ca