Quebec glass recycling plants to get $40M upgrade from business group

A Quebec non-profit representing businesses in the province says it will invest $40 million over five years to help modernize the way glass is recycled in the province.

• Activists call for better recycling of wine and spirit bottles
• Major Quebec glass processing plant shutting down
• SPECIAL REPORT | Quebec's recycling industry performing poorly, experts say
• QUIZ | Recyclable or not in Montreal?

co Entreprises Qubec saysupgradingrecycling centres would make it easier to recycle glass collected at the curb.

"We've been analyzing this situation for the past years,and we came to the conclusion that the best way to have good recycling of glass material in Quebec is to modernize our sorting centers and to work on the market outlets for glass," Maryse Vermette, CEO of co Entreprises Qubec, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

The proposal appears to be at odds with the bottle-deposit system the Quebec government is considering. Environmental activists have argueda deposit is the best way to ensure glass doesn't end up in the trash.

Currently, much of the glass left with curbside recycling ends up in landfills. ALongueuil facility that prepared about 70 per cent of Quebec's glass for recycling shut its doors in 2013.

coEntreprisesQubec, which represents more than 3,000 companies that produce containers, packaging and printed material in Quebec, has looked at the situation and believes upgrading recycling centres is the best to resolve the problem, Vermette said.

The group's members already contribute$135 million each year to compensate for municipal curbside recycling services.