Guillaume LaFlamme, LJI Reporter
The MRC Pontiac is putting in place a new recycling plan in an effort to streamline the process and make collection across the county more efficient. The initiative has come from the Quebec Government, which in 2022 mandated not-for-profit Éco Entreprises Québec (EEQ) to modernize curbside recycling across the province. Through an agreement with EEQ, the MRC aims to centralize recycling contracts and processes for all municipalities within the MRC. THE EQUITY spoke with Kari Richardson, environmental coordinator for the MRC, to gain a deeper understanding of this plan and its benefits. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What is the MRC’s new plan for recycling?
A: It’s going to be a way to centralize recycling. Right now, our local municipalities are in charge of finding their own recycling contracts. They sign a one-year contract or three-year contract, or however it works out with the company that they’re working with, to either come and pick up their recycling at their municipal site, or do door-to-door collection, or however they deem feasible for their municipality. Depending who the municipality is signed with, it could go to various recycling facilities. What’s going to happen now is the MRC is going to go to tender for the whole of the MRC for all of the municipalities, and then all of our recycling is going to go to the same place, which is Tricentris in Gatineau. So now it’s all going to go to the same facility. That’s why the MRC is doing the one call for tender for all the municipalities and it’ll be the same cost as well for all the municipalities.
Q: How will the recycling be collected?
A: Most of our municipalities who do this door-to-door are doing it in-house, so it’s their municipal workers that do it. […] What happens is the municipalities are going to get refunded for anything related to recycling costs. So their door-to-door collection, their activity fees for the tonnage, that will all get reimbursed. So it’s just going to funnel through the MRC. […] They’ll be able to maybe have a more collective situation where [recycling] can be collected somewhere first. We don’t know how that’s going to look. It depends on who’s going to bid, but it could be that there’s another transfer station that collects and then it’s transported.
Q: What are the benefits of centralizing recycling collection?
A: Hopefully there’ll be a reduction in transportation costs and emissions. Another benefit is there’s going to be more things that are reimbursed, like municipalities are going to be paid for all of their recycling processes. They used to just get a rebate for the tonnage that they eliminated, but now, like I said, any of their costs related to recycling are going to be compensated [by EEQ]. So the cost of bins, the cost of the door-to-door collection by their workers, all of the things related to recycling are going to be reimbursed.
Q: How long has the MRC been planning for regional level recycling?
A: We actually had to sign a contract with EEQ for June. And now the next thing we’re doing is trying to put together this tender so we can get that out. What happens is there’s a new regulation. It’s a modernization of the collective regime that came into effect, and then with that, EEQ was the mandated body to oversee that. I think they gave some leeway for municipalities that had longer-term recycling contracts. But then we also informed municipalities that those who had contracts running out, we said “make sure the next contract that you signed is going to be finished by Dec. 2024,” because then we’re going to be in the position where our new collective contract will be starting in January 2025.