Since early April, merchants at this Shawinigan mall have been taking back all plastic packaging. They sort, bag the material, and then Shawinigan-based company Paverreco comes into play a few miles away. The sacks are crushed, pressed, mixed with glass, then they become cobblestones. Marc Francœur, owner of this company founded in 2019, claims that the end product is superior to concrete.
It is an unbreakable paving stone that resists salt and its effects. It is a product made from 100% recycled materials. In a square foot there are 533 bags and 25 bottles of the 750 milliliter type. This is a product that he says has an infinite life cycle. The panels can be sanded and reworked again. We are able to break it down to put it back into a new product in 20, 30 or 50 years.
Less greenhouse gases
This unique partnership in Mauricie is the result of collaboration between Paverreco, the Shawinigan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the mall. The administration of the Plaza de la Mauricie wanted to find a more ecological alternative to landfill. In fact, Énercycle, which manages residues in Mauricie, stopped taking back plastic bags from 2019 to 2022 for lack of options. The director of the Plaza de la Mauricie, Yvan Fecteau, emphasizes that this initiative will also help to avoid costs.
We avoid shipping tons of plastic, which often takes up unnecessarily much volume in a container because it is very light. We send it directly for recycling and it is refined on site.
Specifically, according to Justin Vachon, Sustainable Development Advisor at the Chamber of Commerce, this project will reduce intermediaries in the processing of materials and therefore greenhouse gas emissions.
What is certain is that with Paverreco in the region we can avoid transporting 300 kilometers for plastic and then having it sorted several times. So he leaves here and goes 10 kilometers away from here.
Vendors in the mall collect all the plastic so it can be transformed.
Photo: Radio Canada
plastic way
Paverreco CEO Marc Francœur wants this pilot project to advance regional collection by creating multiple collection points. The goal is to gather all plastic materials in one place and make it a central collection point to start creating the famous plastic route in Mauricie.