Activists call for better recycling of wine and spirit bottles

A citizen's group in Quebec City is asking allQuebecersto leave their empty wine bottles in front ofSAQstores as a way to put pressure on the government to implement a bottle-deposit system.

Organizers ofOprationVerre-Vert, or Green-Glass, say thatsince a glass-recycling facility in Longueuil shut down last year, almost all of the glass that people put in their recycling bins ends up in landfills.

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Colin Jacob, a member of the citizens group, says glass that is collected is often broken once its dropped in a recycling bin.

"Glass shards will lodge themselves in other materials such as plastic and paper, rendering them useless for recycling or diminishing their value significantly," Jacob said.

The group says its time for Quebec to implement a bottle-deposit system for wine and spirit bottles.

Environmental activists say the provinces liquor board should be leading the initiative, since about 80 per cent of all glass placed inrecycling bins comes from theSAQ.

The service is available in every other province except Quebec and Manitoba.