The many items that are incorrectly thrown into the recycling bin not only impact the employees at the sorting centers, but also have consequences that affect all taxpayers.
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According to a Léger survey conducted on behalf of Éco Entreprises Québec, the organization responsible for managing selective collection in the province, only 17% of people say they pay attention. which they throw into their recycling bin.
However, the problems caused by this poor recycling affect their wallets, explains Philippe Cantin, vice-president of public affairs at Éco Entreprises Québec.
This is particularly the case when long items force the sorting center machine to stop.
“It costs a lot of money if there are outages lasting hours,” explains Mr. Cantin.
The cost of all products is also influenced by the use of recyclable materials.
“In every product we buy there is a small amount that can still be significant given all the logistics used to finance the collection,” says Philippe Cantin.
This percentage amounts to more than $200 million per year at the provincial level.
According to the vice-president of public affairs at Éco Entreprises Québec, the most common mistake consumers make is believing that sorting center employees can magically find a way to recycle an item, no matter what it is.
“We shouldn’t necessarily think that it goes into the recycling bin because it can be recycled. There are many other recycling programs where we can drop off items that can be recycled,” he says.
To raise public awareness of responsible recycling, the organization Éco Entreprises Québec launched the social campaign “Bac Impact” at the beginning of the year.
“We are launching this new approach to education and awareness among the population. “In the coming years, more and more people will understand what the sorting gesture is, because the good sorting gesture has an impact, and if the gesture is bad, there is also an effect that is not necessarily positive,” claims Mr. Cantin.
To watch the full interview, watch the video above.