Entry into force of the selective collection reform in Quebec

The 1^is January marks the entry into force of the selective collection reform in Quebec under the management of Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ). This change makes companies responsible for their products, from their marketing to their recycling.

From now on, it is ÉEQ which will manage and finance the selective collection system throughout the territory, and no longer the municipalities.

With this reform, François Legault’s government hopes to reduce the quantity of materials sent to landfills and increase recycling rates.

Quebec has even set recovery and recycling targets to achieve for different materials. To achieve this, Éco Entreprises Québec has simplified and standardized everything that can be put in the bin.

As of today, all containers, packaging and printed matter must be placed there, even if they are not currently recyclable, such as potato chip bags or yogurt pots.

Thus, the reform broadens the variety of subjects accepted. Here is a summary of what can go in the bin, according to Éco Entreprises Québec.

Containers

Flexible or rigid, containers that are made of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic or metal.

• Shampoo bottles
• Oil bottles
• Laundry Soap Containers

Packaging

Like containers, packaging that is made of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic or metal.

• Egg cartons
• Fruit boxes
• Paper bags
• Conserves

Prints

These are paper, cardboard and other fibers.

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Lined or squared sheets
• Envelopes

The exceptions

Among the prohibited products, we find aerosols, polystyrene packaging and degradable plastic packaging.

A well-received reform

The general director of the Quebec Front for Ecological Waste Management, Karel Ménard, views this reform favorably.

This is a good thing because it was not up to the municipalities to manage these matters over which they had no control.he declares.

He says that with the changes made, Quebecers will see the volume of their trash bags decrease because most things [jetées] these are packaging.

For her part, the president and CEO of Éco Entreprises Québec, Maryse Vermette, maintains that a large part of the materials that will be placed in the bin will be recycled in Quebec in 2025.

But, some will still take the path of export, she specifies. Certain materials which unfortunately do not yet have outlets in Quebec or in neighboring regions, everything like mixed paper, mixed fibers are intended for foreign markets and many in Asia.

According to her, 70% of the materials currently found in sorting centers are recycled in Quebec. The rest is sent abroad.

What we want is the circular economy of containers, packaging and printed matter as much as possible in Quebec.

She says that her organization will eventually find outlets for all the materials that end up in the recycling bin.

She believes that by improving the quantity and quality of recovered materials, new opportunities will emerge. It is part of our responsibility to develop new markets in Quebec and we are working on itshe assures.

Positive impacts

Karel Ménard believes that the fact that Éco Entreprises manages all the sorting centers in the province and that it becomes responsible for all the materials sent there will help find outlets for recyclable materials.

All the material will belong to a single owner, which was not the case before, where each sorting center had to find a buyer for small quantitieshe explains.

The CEO of Éco Entreprises Québec maintains that she will collaborate with municipalities in order to improve the quality of recovered materials.

We will work with the municipalities on action plans to improve the quality of the material in the bins. There are already municipalities that have set up quality control squadsshe emphasizes.

The organization would have liked municipalities to set up patrols to monitor the contents of bins and impose sanctions on the most recalcitrant citizens. We wanted to have coercive measures, but that did not workshe said.

Éco Entreprises Québec, which represents companies that market packaged products, has been working on this reform for two years after being mandated by RECYC-QUÉBEC in 2022.