According to an agreement in principle between manufacturer Owens-Illinois of Montréal and Groupe Bellemare (sector Abrasives & Minerals), it will soon be possible to produce bottles from glass collected through curbside recycling. This new outlet for glass recycling in Québec is the result of efforts initiated by Éco Entreprises Québec under its Innovative Glass Works plan. Beyond guarantees of feedstock, it will foremost require a change in Quebec regulation to ban any usage of glass in landfill sites.
Groupe Bellemare now has a comprehensive business plan in hand and will be ready to make the investments required to purchase new equipment as soon as the supply guarantees are confirmed.
However, one final condition must be met. Indeed, the government of Québec must now put an end to the temporary solution that, for the past several years, has sent glass to landfills to be used as cover material. “Should the Ministre de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques announce that it is choosing to end this practice and fully support the glass recycling, we will work to secure our feedstock needed for the immediate investment, and our plant will be operational within a year, as per our discussions with Owens-Illinois,” said Mr. Serge Bellemare, Co-president of Groupe Bellemare.
For complete article (french): https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/08/12/une-solution-trouvee-pour-regler-la-crise-du-verre
