To send less waste to the landfill, we need to consume better, recycle better, and tame composting. Rigid plastic, milk cartons, plastic bags, lids, and stoppers… What products can be recycled, and what should be done with non-recyclable materials? To recycle better and produce less waste, follow our advice.
In Quebec, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of glass, paper, cardboard, and metal are still going to the landfill when these materials can be recycled.
Despite this gloomy observation, the actions you take daily to improve the province's environmental footprint are not in vain. According to Recyc-Québec, Quebecers are filling their green bins more and more: in 2010, sorting centers recovered 13% more residual materials than in 2008. A short guide to find you in the world of recycling and composting.
Produce less waste and recycle better
By consuming less and better, you will reduce the entry of materials into your home. “Buy only what you need and opt for sustainable and recyclable products,” advocates Karel Ménard, director-general of the Common Quebec Front for Ecological Waste Management (FCQGED).
This involves developing the reflex to refuse, says Marie-Ève Chaume, responsible for green spaces and residual materials at the Montreal Regional Environmental Council. “For example, think twice before accepting or offering gifts and promotional items; they often end up in the trash. "
“Beware of over-packaged products, they are the source of a lot of waste,” says Philippe Viel, communications manager at the Union des consommateurs. Certain actions to take are obvious, such as buying vegetables in bulk rather than in non-recyclable trays covered with several layers of plastic wrap.
Other more surprising ideas could shake up your habits. In her book Zero Waste, published in January 2014, the French Béa Johnson explains how she succeeded in the feat of reducing the waste produced by her family to 1 kg per year. However, the actions it suggests will take some effort and planning.
She advises swapping each disposable product for its reusable equivalents, such as rechargeable batteries, washable diapers, handkerchiefs, napkins, dish towels, and cloth rags. But that's not all: Béa Johnson also suggests making your paper to make original and personalized greeting cards, as well as your makeup products, shampoos, and moisturizers. She recommends going to the butcher with your containers so he can put ground beef and chicken breasts there. A way of life that is tamed step by step!
The 3RV rule
To better manage residual materials, Recyc-Québec recommends respecting the four elements of the 3R hierarchy: reduction at source, reuse, recycling, and recovery. Before throwing away or recycling an item, first check if it can have a second life or be taken back to a resource center, such as a sharing store. You should only put it in the trash as a last resort.
Resource centers accept small still functional electrical devices such as toasters or microwaves, clothes, and toys. You can also get rid of your metal clothesline, pieces of wood lying around in your yard, or your PVC garden furniture in eco centers across the province. What about your old, punctured garden hose? This one, you will have to resign yourself to putting it in the garbage.
Recycle better
Do you need a diploma to know how to recycle well? No, but knowing a few basics is helpful so that you don't waste time. In 2010, the 38 sorting centers in Quebec received more than one million tonnes of material, says Recyc-Quebec. But they had to bury 9.4% of everything they sorted at their expense.
Why? Green bins accommodate a lot of non-recyclable materials, such as biodegradable plastics, mirrors, or Pyrex dishes. Sometimes there are even syringes there, which should have been placed in a container provided for this purpose and returned to the CLSC for example, or toys that an eco-center would have gladly taken back.
So what rules to follow? “The golden rule is to only put containers, packaging and printed matter in your bin,” advises Virginie Bussières, director of communications at Éco Entreprises Québec. This non-profit organization is responsible for funding municipal services for the collection, sorting, and conditioning of containers, packaging, and printed matter in Quebec.
Plastic bags can block sorting center machines; you must therefore bring them together in a single, knotted bag. “To help the sorting process, you also have to separate the various packages of the same product. This is the case with the cereal box, from which the cardboard container and the plastic bag must be separated, ”adds Virginie Bussières. And you have to do the same for the flyers and their plastic bag!
There is also the thorny issue of glass: surprisingly, it is seen as a “contaminant” by sorting centers, because when it breaks it spreads into other materials, says Karel Ménard. Also, the glass collected through curbside recycling is not of good quality: the colors are jumbled, the bottles and containers are dirty, etc. “Until recently, the Klareco plant in Longueuil recycled 70% of the glass in Quebec. But it closed its doors in April 2013 ”, deplores Denis Blaquière.
Where is the glass found today? It piles up in sorting centers, or it is used as a covering material and to make access roads in landfill centers. Recent-Quebec nevertheless considers that you should continue to put your glass containers in the bin because the organization is "convinced that the development of innovative projects will ensure new outlets for this material".
"The best solution would be to impose a deposit on the bottles of the Société des alcools du Québec [SAQ] because 80% of the glass that ends up in the recycling bin comes from her home," argues Karel Ménard. When returned, the recovered glass is not broken, it is classified by color, therefore considered to be of good quality and easily reusable for foundries. The SAQ rejects this idea, however, because it considers it too expensive and difficult to manage.
59%
This is the forwarding rate for recycling materials from residences and recovered by selective collection. About 91% of the materials placed in the bin are recycled in Quebec.
A long way to go
Each Quebecer produces 730 kg of waste annually, according to Statistics Canada. This is the average weight of an adult cow! The Quebec government would like to reduce this average to 700 kg by 2015, according to Geneviève Lebel, head of media relations at the Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Environment, and the Fight against Climate Change. Which leaves us only a few months to get there.
Director Denis Blaquière, whose shock documentary La pour belle Province aired on Radio-Canada in January 2014, believes this target is woefully insufficient. "The province is facing a major problem: right now, landfill costs about $ 40 per tonne, while recovery, sorting, and recycling cost $ 100 to $ 120 per tonne." According to Recyc-Québec, 5.43 million tonnes of waste went to the dump in 2011. Do your calculations ...
Quebec still has a long way to go before becoming a champion of the green bag. "We need a boost and political will to promote recycling to the detriment of the landfill," says Denis Blaquière. A law could, for example, require manufacturers of consumer products to include a certain percentage of recycled fibers in packaging, which would force them to obtain more of it and therefore promote recovery. ”
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