Of the 3.5 million tonnes of construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) waste generated each year in Quebec, a little less than 8% is recycled. To improve the results, a committee of experts encourages the Minister of the Environment to tighten regulations.
The latest report on the management of residual materials in Quebec which was produced by RECYC-QUÉBEC shows that of the 3.5 million tonnes of residue that were generated in 2021, 47% ends up directly in landfill sites.
Thus, 1.8 million tonnes end up in sorting centers, but only 261,000 tonnes are recycled and 650,000 tonnes are redirected to disposal sites such as landfills.
In 2021, 6.2 million tonnes of residual materials were eliminated, including sludge. This data represents 40 times the concrete used to build the Champlain Bridge.
In order to improve Quebec’s record, the Minister of the Environment has mandated a committee of experts to propose solutions to divert these materials from landfills.
Coordinated by RECYC-QUÉBEC, the committee, which brings together numerous organizations, submitted nine voluntary recommendations to act upstream and improve the results.
According to the President and CEO of RECYC-QUÉBEC, Emmanuelle Géhin, there is currently a “momentum” in the construction sector. Stakeholders want to improve their environmental record. “The fruit is ripe,” she said. She wanted to find solutions in collaboration with industry. “It makes no sense to send materials to landfill.”
However, these measures alone will not make it possible to completely reverse the trend.
Regulations
Even if regulatory aspects were not directly part of their mandate, the members of the committee of experts encourage the government to move forward with specific measures. The committee wants Quebec to put in place barriers to landfilling, “in particular by imposing penalties for residual materials from the CRD sector which are eliminated without first being sent to a recognized or authorized sorting center by modifying a regulation.”
For example, it is not mandatory to include mitigation measures related to CRD residues in calls for tenders. Sorting centers are also not required to declare their balance sheet.
Quebec’s Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, admitted that there is an issue with CRD residues, and that new regulations are coming.
“We are thinking about it,” he said, without commenting on the form it could take. “We are under evaluation. We are aware that this is the next part of the very big transformation that we have tackled with the management of residual materials.”
