By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
Reduce, reuse, recycle, recirculate; the ten-year sustainable development plan released by the MRC Brome-Missisquoi earlier this month aims to do a bit of all of that. The plan is focused on the circular economy – the idea of an economic system based on the reuse and regeneration of materials or products.
In an introductory note, prefect Patrick Melchior explained that the ten-year plan had become necessary in light of the sweeping changes the MRC has experienced in the last few years, notably an increase in population, a housing shortage and climate challenges including drought. “It has become essential to update the plan to show resilience and innovation, while staying true to our values.”
MRC representatives met with businesspeople, citizens’ groups and elected officials and conducted a public opinion survey and a consultative forum while piecing the plan together.
Although economic and ecological objectives are often presented in opposition to one another, the MRC took a different tack, framing the economy as a means of improving social and environmental conditions, within the limits imposed by natural resources and conservation imperatives. “Preservation of biodiversity, ecological connectivity, conservation and restoration of natural environments, sustainable and integrated management of water resources [and] social inclusion” are among the plan’s stated aims.
The plan also “aims to establish conditions conducive to innovation and the development of growth sectors, while encouraging the adoption of responsible and sustainable economic practices.”
Melchior said the MRC aims to “work on new economic projects” integrating economic and environmental imperatives. Several years ago, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he and three colleagues travelled to Denmark to learn more about “industrial symbiosis” – powering one industry with the otherwise-unused byproducts of another. In the intervening years, this approach has gained more attention in Quebec, notably in Quebec City, where a new composting program sends food waste to be processed into natural gas to heat homes and agricultural fertilizer, and in the Lower St. Lawrence, where grain residue discarded by microbreweries is processed into animal feed.
“We want to be a sort of transmission belt to support these kinds of projects in Brome-Missisquoi – how can we manage to help a company reduce its carbon footprint [and find uses for its byproducts]?” he speculated.
The plan contains a long list of intended actions over the next decade, notably making green spaces more accessible, preserving and restoring wetlands, improving the region’s wastewater management strategy, developing sustainability guidelines for development projects, encouraging businesses to adapt “green” practices and improving public transit in Brome-Missisquoi and Haute-Yamaska
The full plan can be consulted on the MRC website.