MONTREAL - Officials on Monday lauded an advanced recycling plant opening in Lachine.
The plant's computers sort glass, paper and plastic automatically. Air jets and magnets separate the materials. It's advanced technology, according to Mayor Valerie Plante.
She said the plant would be profitable. Sorted materials will be pure and easy to convert for other purposes.
"It's more steps to make it cleaner and cleaner every time, so in the end, what we have is good quality. Having those separators makes a huge difference," Plante said.
But there is a problem.
The plant was supposed to be able to clean used glass so it could be recycled. A glass cleaning machine, however, hasn't arrived yet. It won't be delivered until March. Until then, the glass will be crushed and used as a replacement for sand to cover up landfills.
Plante insisted the crushed glass was useful.
"It's not being thrown away; we still use it," she said.
Many Montrealers don't sort their recycling properly, Plante added, so despite the efficiency of the new plant, 10 per cent of the material that passes through it won't be suitable for recycling, and will become trash.
"There has to be more awareness," the mayor said.
With files from CTV Montreal's Matt Grillo
