The Hammer comes down:
Recycling do’s and don’ts

Irony in recycling (and immigration by analogy)

By Linda Hammerschmid

We have all heard and read over the last years how China continually leads the global community as its most prolific polluter.

Just based on measuring fossil fuel CO2 emissions, and as of 2015, China emits twice as much as the U.S. and almost three times as much as the European Union collective.

So imagine my surprise to learn that, due to China’s decision to tighten restrictions on the number of “contaminants” it would accept in recycled products it purchases from other countries, prices for the sale of recyclables plummeted.

… part of the fault is ours because people, either by mistake or insouciance, fill up blue boxes with banned materials.

Apparently, however, part of the fault is ours because people, either by mistake or insouciance, fill up blue boxes with banned materials. Greasy paper products (think pizza boxes), light bulbs, waxy products (those inside sleeves from cereal boxes), small individual yogurt containers (I gather large ones are okay?), clothes (that I’ve never done although I read once that lint is compost compatible and lint after all emanates from clothes but I digress), and the list goes on.

In Toronto – which BTW is a worse offender somehow than we Montréalais – recycling is separated at the home level between various types of materials and by moisture (wet or dry).

Experts in the field propose that bins differentiate between glass, metal and plastic items to ease sorting, thereby reducing costs at the plant, as was done originally but which was stopped in order to foster the desire of residents to recycle (too much trouble to do all that sorting I suppose).

‘Experts in the field propose that bins differentiate between glass, metal and plastic items to ease sorting… as was done originally…’

For instance, plastic bags are recyclable but should be bundled together in another bag, which is tied so as to make sorting at the end of the line easier and faster. After all time is money.

My suggestion, given all the recent hullabaloo about immigration phobias, and given that I am sure the majority of “pur laine” folk don’t aspire to sorting recyclable materials, maybe more thought should be placed on why it is advisable to allow immigrants into La Belle Province. And it seems to me that passing French tests, for this job anyway, shouldn’t have to be very demanding.

For more information on what to recycle and what not to put in blue bins, go to the RECYC-QUÉBEC website. They have even launched an App (Ça va où?) to help people reduce their mistakes.

recyc-quebec.gouv.qc.ca
recrutement@recyc-quebec.gouv.qc.ca
Ça va où? / Where does it go?

Feature image: Scott Macpherson via StockPholio.com

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of its author and do not reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca, its publishers or editors.

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