PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Éco Entreprises Québec
The first Forum on Curbside Recycling Optimization brings together
more than 200 key players
Montréal, January 28, 2015 – Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ) held the very first Quebec
forum on curbside recycling optimization today. More than 200 players involved in the field,
including packaging manufacturers, contributing companies, municipal representatives,
collection and sorting operators, conditioners/recyclers, equipment providers, government
officials and representatives of European organizations, got together to exchange ideas,
share their experience and inspire new practices.
“The curbside recycling industry must constantly evolve in order to adapt to current and
future challenges and realities. The forum was designed to rally curbside recycling players
around concrete solutions so that the greatest quantities of high quality recyclable materials
are recovered at the lowest cost per tonne,” said Maryse Vermette, ÉEQ’s President and
CEO.
During the morning session, participants were presented with a portrait of curbside recycling
in Quebec and listened to a panel on the issues and challenges of developing a more
effective system. A KPMG/Secor expert then presented the highlights of an analysis recently
conducted in cooperation with ÉEQ to identify and prioritize avenues for optimizing the
system. At the luncheon conference, Joachim Quoden, Managing Director of EXPRA, an
association of more than 20 eco-organizations of which ÉEQ is a member, gave a
presentation on key factors in the success achieved by European eco-organizations drawn
from their 20 years of experience in extended producer responsibility. Forum participants
then took part in themed workshops to examine possible solutions to the challenges faced
by Quebec’s curbside recycling industry.
Discussion
panel
with
stakeholders from the curbside
recycling value chain
From left to right: Louise Fecteau,
manager,
Away-from-Home
recovery program, Benoît de Villiers,
President and CEO, RECYC-QUÉBEC,
Réjean Pion, General Manager,
Régie intermunicipale d’Acton et des
Maskoutains, Johnny Izzy, General
Manager, Gaudreau Environnement
and
Jean-Sébastien
Cloutier,
journalist,
Radio-Canada.
Photo credit: Marie-Andrée Blais
“ÉEQ organized this event to highlight the importance of curbside recycling and urge
involved players to go even further by finding ways to optimize the system. The status quo
is not an option for the future. Along with key players in the system, we are striving to build
a curbside recycling business model that reflects Quebec’s reality and respects sustainable
development principles,” commented Denis Brisebois, Chairman of ÉEQ’s Board of Directors.
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“We have all the talent needed to implement indispensable changes not only to ensure we
maintain a quality industry, but also make it the best performing system in North America
from economic, environmental and social standpoints,” concluded Ms. Vermette.
Concrete and innovative solutions to improve the system
The day wrapped up with discussions on innovative solutions to optimize the current
curbside recycling system, and a call to action urging all partners to do their part in moving
forward.
A number of ideas were offered:
 Recyclable materials recovery must be easy for residents to understand.
 By improving the quality of materials placed in recycling bins, everyone wins.
 Municipalities have a clear interest in sharing their best practices.
 Sorting centres can adapt, modernize and contribute to adding value to recycling bin
contents, and government support is necessary to implement those improvements.
 Regional, and perhaps provincial planning would result in greater optimization of
collection and sorting operations.
“As Co-Chair of the Comité-conseil sur les matières résiduelles (advisory committee on
residual materials), I will present a report on this conference to the committee. Today’s
discussions will certainly provide food for thought as we formulate recommendations to
David Heurtel, Minister of Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre
les changements climatiques,” concluded Ms. Vermette.
About Éco Entreprises Québec
Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ) is the organization that develops the Schedule of
Contributions and collects company contributions, which are then redistributed to finance
municipal curbside recycling services in Quebec. ÉEQ also encourages innovation and
sharing of best practices in order to optimize the recyclable materials value chain. To do so,
ÉEQ cooperates, on the one hand, with companies to reduce quantities of materials at the
source and encourage the use of recyclable materials, as well as with municipalities to
increase recycling and the economic value of recovered materials. ÉEQ is a private nonprofit organization created by companies that put containers, packaging and printed matter
on Quebec’s market. The organization was accredited by RECYC-QUÉBEC in 2005 under the
Environment Quality Act.
– 30 –
Source:
Virginie Bussières
Director, Communications and Public Affairs
Éco Entreprises Québec
Information and requests for interviews:
Octane Strategies
Isabelle Monette
(514) 503-4169
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