Recycling from the eastern North Shore temporarily sent to Victoriaville

While the sorting center of the Le Phare organization, in Port-Cartier, was destroyed by flames last week, recyclable materials from the municipality, Sept-Îles and Minganie are now sent to Victoriaville.

A first truck took the road to Victoriaville on Sunday, reports the head of the environment division of the City of Sept-Îles, Jean-François Grenier.

The Victoriaville site was chosen because it was the first available to accommodate the type of equipment used by Sept-Îles and Port-Cartier. We needed a site that had the capacity to unload our types of trailers […] and process our volumeexplains Mr. Grenier.

With this new arrangement, each round trip costs $4,200, which represents an expense of approximately $350 per ton of material. In comparison, transporting materials to Port-Cartier previously cost $40 per ton, indicates Jean-François Grenier.

Currently, the City of Sept-Îles’ priority is to reduce the costs associated with these trips. Agreements with other less distant sites, notably in Saguenay, could be made, according to him.

He adds that it is important to educate citizens to carry out rigorous sorting to prevent waste from mixing with recyclable materials and ending up in landfill at the end of the process.

The reconstruction of the sorting center or the purchase of a new building, for us, remains a priorityexplains for his part the mayor of Port-Cartier, Alain Thibault, at the microphone of the show Side by side Monday. Although the steps in this direction are led by Le Phare, Alain Thibault assures that the organization can count on the support of Port-Cartier.

It is certain that there will be representations at the political level in several ministries.

At present, a few plumes of smoke are still rising from the rubble and we still do not know how much the loss amounts to, specifies the mayor.

The destruction of the infrastructure also represents a loss of employment for the forty workers at the sorting center. Le Phare, a reintegration company, works with a large proportion of people with functional limitations.

It’s something really sadestimates the mayor.

Everything will be done to try to relocate several people. […] Several scenarios have been developedhe assures.

Homogenization of materials collection

As part of the provincial reform, Éco Entreprises Québec (EEQ) has been responsible since 1^is January 2025 of the entire selective collection system in Quebec.

The organization, which manages and finances the system, assumes the costs, particularly those associated with transporting materials from Port-Cartier to Victoriaville. These expenses are not the responsibility of municipalitiesspecifies the head of public affairs and internal communications at Éco Entreprises Québec, Marie-Claude Rivet.

Although the Port-Cartier sorting center was destroyed, Ms. Rivet encourages residents of the North Shore to continue participating in selective collection. It’s important to continue to participate because we continue to recover and bring materials from the region to recyclers.

Furthermore, it invites you to carry out selective recycling: containers, packaging and printed matter. We don’t put anything else.

With information from Catherine Paquette and Bénédicte Filippi