Packaging, printed matter, containers in the bin
Those who worry about the plastic numbers for the different containers will no longer have to worry about it. Basically, what you need to remember is that you can put packaging, containers and printed matter in the bin, explains Ingrid Dubuc, director of the Environment Office at the City of Sherbrooke.
As is currently the case, it will be necessary to continue to send protective expanded polystyrene (commonly called Styrofoam) as well as empty aerosols to the ecocenters.
“Before, we asked ourselves the question of whether it was plastic 4,5,6,7 and we relied on that to say: I can put it in the bin or not. With the terms “containers, packaging, printed matter”, the person’s thinking has just become simpler.”
The modernization of selective collection will lead to greater standardization across the province. (Simon Rancourt/Archives La Tribune)
Why couldn’t we ask the question about the plastic numbers?
“From January 1, 2025, it is the producers who are responsible for implementing the selective collection system. They have to finance this system and they have given ÉEQ the mandate to represent them and operationalize it for them.
They are all private companies, and for the costs of modernizing selective collection to be as optimal as possible, they will have to think about their containers, packaging and printed matter, so that their costs are lower. Those who used plastic that is more difficult to recycle will have to do eco-design and think differently.”
So, eventually, potato chip bags that can’t be recycled, for example, could be.
The reason why No. 6 plastic cannot be recycled in certain places is that it has no resale value. It will be up to producers, for example a yogurt manufacturer, to decide whether they continue to spend money on using this type of plastic and pay to landfill it (because the end of life is part of their responsibilities) or whether they use a another type of plastic, image Mme Dubuc.
“That’s in the long term. Until then, (plastic number) six will be sorted, and ÉEQ will try to find a recycler and it will have all the material from Quebec to resell.
From green to blue and status quo for the calendar
The color of your bin will gradually change from green to blue, ÉEQ wishes to standardize the color of the bins.
This change will, however, take place very gradually, specifies Ms. Dubuc. They will be replaced when the citizens’ bins are broken; there will be no blitz to replace them.
The collection schedule does not change.
The transition between Éco Entreprises Québec and the cities for the collection of recyclable materials brings great standardization.
Municipalities retain management of local services (collection and transport, customer service, etc.).
An agreement signed by the City of Sherbrooke with Éco-Entreprise Québec provides for 10 glass containers. (Maxime Picard/Archives La Tribune)
What happens with glass deposits?
Ten glass depots are now installed in Sherbrooke, the last being at Défi Polyteck, located on Queen-Victoria Boulevard.
The arrival of ÉEQ does not change the situation for glass collection.
Sherbrooke must, however, stick to the contract it signed with ÉEQ, which provides for 10 glass depots in Sherbrooke territory.
“The agreement that Sherbrooke signed with ÉEQ – now responsible for selective collection – takes into consideration 10 glass deposit sites. We cannot add more, this is what will remain on the territory. »
And the extended instructions in all this?
Quebec announced Thursday the partial postponement of the extended instructions in Quebec.
It provides for “the addition of an additional phase so that on March 1, 2025, plastic containers will be added to the deposit system.”
The remaining containers, namely glass and multi-layer containers, will for their part integrate the system on March 1, 2027.
The deployment of the extended instructions is therefore being done in parallel.
It is still too early to know what will happen to glass deposits, for example, when the deposit is fully deployed, therefore not before 2027.
