The Sad State of Glass Wine Bottle Recycling in Quebec
I like, I mean love, wine.
And like many people here in Quebec, I dutifully put my empty wine bottles in my blue recycling bin.
I was recently horrified to learn that much, if not all, of the glass in the recycling bin ends up in trash. Why? Cross-contamination. When glass bottles break, the broken glass cannot be sorted and it becomes difficult to sell the glass. Glass needs to be sorted by color (clear, green, etc). The current proposal by the Eco Entreprises is a pilot project to further sort the glass received from the recycling bins… I don’t know about you, but this seems ridiculous. I think the obvious solution is to separate the glass from our standard recycling at the get go. This is the solution being proposed by many:
In Quebec, we have a program for returning of beer bottles which works very well (100% recycling rate). For wine bottles, however, there is no such program. The current level of recycling of glass wine bottles is a paltry 14%! In 2007, Ontario introduced the Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP), also simply known as Bag it Back. The goal of this program is to prevent materials from ending up in landfill or low-quality recycling. A fee is charged for each alcoholic beverage container sold in the province and processing the material for re-use or other recycling activities. There is currently a petition at the Quebec National Assembly to allow consignment of wine bottles via the SAQ. The program was launched in December 2017 with the tag line “Je signe pour la consigne”. This solution allows glass recyclers to have a source of material that is clean and uncontaminated and the monies collected can be used towards management of recycling.
Explanation Je Signe pour la Consigne
It is clear that the SAQ is against having to manage wine bottle recycling. However, a solution is needed to ensure glass does not end up in landfill.
I have discussed this topic at length with a number of people who are (1) opposed to a consignment scheme (2) opposed to having the SAQ manage it and (3) want another solution. While the ultimate solution would be to have the government manage the wine bottle recycling and organize sorting at the start, I believe that it is unwise and irresponsible to continue to put wine bottles in our recycling bins, knowing that they are most likely going to landfill. We need to do something.
For those of you interested in taking action on this topic, I suggest:
1) Signing the petition to lobby the government to implement a deposit on wine bottles to prevent wine bottles from ending up in landfill :
2)Contacting your city to lobby for the implementation of a glass management program that will allow glass recyclers to use the glass collected is another route.
The status quo with glass bottles going to landfill does not work. We need to take action now.
Challenge for the Week: Please help prevent glass wine bottles from ending up in our landfills! Your support on the one of the actions listed would help. Please share on social media.
DID YOU KNOW: If worldwide dumping of plastics in the oceans continues unchecked, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean by weight than fish!
Zero Waste Garbage Jar Update:
With my new glass garbage jar in hand, we have reduced our two week waste to fit into this glass jar:
It weighs only 3 lbs (plus another 3 lbs for cat litter). I am so pleased with our progress!