New recycling system coming to Quebec in the new year

As of the new year, Quebec will have a new curbside recycling system, including big blue bins with a long list of what households can put inside.

Some of those bins have been delivered already, and Westmount resident Michael Maltais said he’s just glad he has enough room to store the new bin.

“I think it's a great idea. It's big. It rolls. So if you have a strength problem or if you have, you know, a hard time carrying stuff, you just can pull it to the curb and it's all there,” he said.

The list of items that can go in the bin has grown, said Marie-Claude Rivet of Eco Entreprise Quebec, the non-profit handling the roll-out.

“You don't have to wonder, ‘is this is the right amount of plastic I can put it in the bin or not?’ Just as long as it is a container, a packaging or a print paper, you just put it in the bin,” she said.

No sorting is required.

By holding companies responsible for making their own recyclable packaging, Eco Entreprise Quebec aims to encourage them to produce more recyclable products

“We are mandated as a producers’ responsibility organization by the government of Quebec to pay for finance and to manage the whole system throughout the province,” said Rivet.

Items that do not go into the bin include aerosol cans, styrofoam and textiles like clothing.

Until the new blue bins can be distributed everywhere, green bins will still be accepted.

“We make sure that these materials are brought to a sorting center that will sort the materials and put them in big, big lots to make sure that then we sell the material to recyclers who will make new products with the materials,” said Rivet.

The idea is making recycling easy so more residents will do it, but will it work?

“I definitely hope so,” said Maltais. “For me, it's very strange to think that people are not recycling already.”

Some might make recycling their New Year’s resolution.