A few months after major recycling problems, Montreal managed to improve the performance of its Lachine sorting center, but it still falls far short of North American standards.
The city of Montreal had paid a high price for this sorting center, which Mayor Valérie Plante said would be “the most modern and technologically advanced in Quebec”.
But troubles have followed since this center paid $53 million to open in 2019. With warehouses nearing overflow, the company responsible for managing the site, Ricova, was stripped of its contract by the city last September.
The VIA Company regained control of the operation a month later. More than three years after the center opened, progress is only gradually being felt.
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The contamination rate of recycled paper has just fallen below the 10 percent threshold, said Jean-Sébastien Daigle, President and CEO of Société VIA.
“When the switch to Ricova was made, we had contamination rates in excess of 30%. We finally split by three in a few months,” stressed Arnaud Budk, director of the city’s residue management.
However, this rate remains well above contamination standards, which are set at 3% in North America.
“Below 10%, customers can accept it. In an ideal world, we would need pollutants around 5% or less and we’re on our way there,” said Mr. Daigle.
More repairs will follow
Upon arrival, VIA had to focus on training the sorters. But she also had to repair many devices that are only a few years old.
“We’ve made a lot of repairs since we arrived,” admitted Mr. Daigle.
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However, the work is not finished yet, because the glass sorting machine, which took several years to install, is still standing still. It should resume operations shortly once the parts ordered have arrived.
The center must continue to adapt to the pandemic-related increase in materials to be recycled. For example, the increase in online orders has increased the amount of boxes to be processed.
“A sorting center is never perfect, it depends on the incoming material. It was well designed for the incoming 2017 material, adjustments need to be made today,” Mr Daigle said.
Ricova cheated the city
Keep in mind that in addition to its poor performance in sorting recycling, waste giant Ricova was also the target of a 2022 investigation by the city of Montreal’s Office of Inspector General (BIG).
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Jean-Sébastien Daigle, President and CEO of Société VIA (left) and Arnaud Budk, Director of Waste Management for the City of Montreal (right)
According to BIG, Ricova failed to share all proceeds from the sale of recyclable materials with the city as intended and would have defrauded Montreal of more than $1 million.
The inspector asked the city to terminate both of Ricova’s sorting contracts, but for now only Lachine’s was terminated in favor of VIA.
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Ricova therefore continues to operate the sorting center in Saint-Michel, east of Montreal. The company also announced that it has achieved a 2% contamination rate with the purchase of six optical sorters. This is a $6 million private investment.
“The operator’s investments have paid off. We will see in the coming months whether this performance is sustainable,” says Marie-Andrée Mauger, Head of Environment on the Executive Board.
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Paper bale contamination rate
• September (Ricova operator): 29.2% contamination
• October (Ricova operator): 36.4% contamination
• October (operator VIA): 9.9% contamination
• November (operator VIA): 12.9% contamination
• December (operator VIA): 9% contamination