Myths

Myth #1

“RECYCLABLE MATERIALS END UP IN LANDFILLS!”

Reality : It’s impossible! Recycling centres have no interest in sending recyclable materials to the landfill because they make their money on the resale of these precious materials. Each and every recyclable material has a value, so we have no financial interest in getting rid of them! That is the reason why all recyclable materials are recycled, including glass. Nevertheless, we do receive less than 10% of non-recyclable materials that we must send to landfill sites or incinerate at a high price.

Myth #2

“WHEN IN DOUBT ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT A MATERIAL IS RECYCLABLE, IT IS BETTER TO PUT IT IN THE BIN!”

Reality : False! Contrary to what is being said in the medias, if you don’t know whether or not a specific material should be put in the blue bin, get information before throwing it away! Non-recyclable materials that are sent to the recycling centres can result in the failure of the sorting lines or system downtime that affect their efficiency. Those non-recyclable materials also need to be sent to a landfill afterwards. If recycling is important to you, please know that the sorting that you do at home is very helpful!

Myth #3

“RINSING CONTAINERS IS A HUGE WASTE OF WATER!”

Reality : While it is true that rinsing containers consumes a bit of water, it is a negligible amount compared to all the water that is required to create a new product. And that is not counting all the energy and the pressure that is put on natural resources.

A few statistics on the amount of water needed to produce new products:

– 500 litres of water are necessary to make 1 kg of paper

– 30,000 litres of water are necessary to build one car

Myth #4

“RECYCLING IS NOT ECOLOGICAL AND DOESN’T HELP REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASES!”

Reality : the landfilling of residual material generates about 5% of all greenhouse gases. Residual material still emits gases decades after arriving at the landfill site.

Thanks to the simple gestures of everyday life made by the citizens and the action of the recycling industry, more than one million tonnes of materials are being diverted from landfills each year in Québec! This represents more than 400,000 tonnes of avoided greenhouse gases, which is the equivalent of planting 2,400,000 trees!

Myth #5

“ONCE THEY ARE IN THE TRUCK, ALL MATERIALS MIX TOGETHER AND LOSE THEIR VALUE!”

Reality : Société VIA is a leader when it comes to automated equipment. Our sorting lines have the necessary technology to sort materials based on their density, shape or nature. Furthermore, a manual sorting is carried out at the end of the process to ensure the quality of the sorted and processed products before they are sent to our partners. The high quality of our sorting method ensures that the value of the materials we receive stays the same throughout the process.

Myth #6

“RECYCLING IS NOT PROFITABLE!”

Reality : On the contrary, thanks to the quality of the recyclable materials coming from its 4 recycling centres, Société VIA contributes to making recycling a profitable business, with more than 10,000 jobs in Québec and over $4 billion in profits for our society.

Each material collected in a blue bin is up to 18 times more profitable than it is when it is thrown away!