MONTREAL -- The company that runs two recycling facilities in Montreal is planning to stop operations in the province.
Rebuts Solides Canadiens, which operates facilities in Lachine and St-Michel, said the current economic plan isn't viable.
"The situation is serious," said Montreal executive committee member Jean-Francois Parenteau.
The city said that after a meeting Friday, the company expressed intentions to close up shop, but won't say when.
In a statement , RSC said no solutions were brought up during Friday's meeting, but it made no mention of intentions to cease operations.
When China banned imported waste, RSC said it lost a significant source of its revenue, which is why in May 2018, Montreal gave the company $29 million in funding.
Parenteau said recycling would continue in the city.
"All the recycling operation will continue. For us, the most important is to keep the services for all Montrealers," he said.
The opposition at City Hall said the Plante administration has been dragging its feet.
"In May 2018, we knew already when we gave the $29 million to take them off the hook. We had already warned the administration, ask for a Plan B," said Ensemble Montreal councillor Francesco Miele.
MIXED MATERIAL SYSTEM MUST GO: EXPERT
Miele says the international market is less interested because of Montreal's mixed recycling system, where all items are placed in the same bin.
Waste management expert Karel Menard of the Quebec Coalition for Ecological Waste agreed that it's a problem.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's a mistake. We create a problem when we mix all this material together," said Menard.
Quebec needs an overhaul to its recycling system, he said, and items should be collected separately.
"If you want to have quality at the end of the sorting centre, you have to have quality at the entrance of the sorting centre," he said. "Sorting centres, they don't do miracles."
The city said it's working on keeping its recycling facilities running.
