It promises another life for 100 % of the glass without deposit

Photo Martin Alarie
To the micronizing mill, the glass of Tricentris Lachute, it produces a powder that can be used, in particular, to replace 30 % of the bitumen in the manufacture of asphalt or 30 % of the cement in concrete structures.

Anne Caroline Desplanques

Tuesday, 13 February, 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Tuesday, 13 February, 2018 01:00

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All of the glass recovered in Quebec will avoid the garbage in the next two years, even without creating a deposit, according to leaders of sorting centres.

“My bet is that in two years we will be at 100 %, you’ll see,” smiled Frederick Potvin, the director-general of the three centers of tri Tricentris. The company recovers the blue bins of 234 municipalities, including those in Terrebonne and Gatineau.

Dr. Potvin ensures that its investments in new equipment for sorting glass enable him today to avoid the tiny shards mix with other materials and make the glass a pest that we send to the dump. The deposit would therefore be useless according to him.

In total, 30 % of the selective collection in Quebec goes through one of the three sorting centres of Tricentris. The glass that is drawn is sent to Lachute where the company operates a factory of processing glass.

The place was only at the stage of infancy during the last balance-sheet of Recyc-Québec, which indicated that 86 % of the glass recovered in the province ended up in the trash.

Since then, Tricentris has obtained the exclusive rights to use a technology for reclamation of the glass developed at the University of Sherbrooke. It allows you to transform the glass into a powder that is used in the construction of infrastructure.

Photo Martin Alarie

Carl Péloquin, Mayor of Lachute

Pool sand

The volume of Verrox produced and sold, however, remains “anecdotal,” admits Mr. Potvin, adding that ” it takes time to make a market “.

In the meantime, the bulk of the glass recovered through its sorting centres is used to make the sand blasting and sand filtration of swimming pool.

The member cities of Tricentris are currently the main users of the Verrox, which is disposed at a lower costs or even free of charge. The mayors control the board of directors of the company.

“It is important for the elected officials that the citizens see that their glass, they take care of it well,” insists the mayor of Lachute and chairman of the board of Tricentris, Carl Péloquin.

Artificial market

Skeptical, Karel Ménard, of the Front commun québécois pour the ecological management of waste, sees this as an artificial market, inexpensive, it doesn’t solve the problem of recycling glass.

Mr. Ménard reminds us that while we transform our recovered glass powder, glass manufacturers and quebec, Owens Illinois, to go and search for the glass recovered for recycling. To resolve this problem, Owens Illinois was in favor of the setpoint.

But Maryse Vermette Eco Entreprises Québec (EEQ) indicates that, in addition to those of Tricentris, five other sorting centers, which capture 25% of the glass selective collection were installed in September new equipment for sorting glass.

They are expected to provide the glass quality to glass manufacturers without deposit, she said.