Montreal paper recycler seeks financial help

Hit by tightened restrictions from China, a Montreal recyclables sorting center indicates it will be forced to sell the paper collected from the city’s blue bins at a loss in 2018, and the city’s taxpayers will have to pay part of the tab.

According to an online article from the Montreal Gazette, Montreal’s Centre de tri is calling for financial help from the Quebec government to help it survive with what it calls “a crisis” in the paper recycling industry.

Recovered fiber accounts for around 65 percent of all the materials collected and sold by the sorting plant, but with China cracking down on the import of mixed paper, many collectors are finding it difficult to find markets for the material.

While the city previously shared the profits generated at its facility, the drop in the value of the material has resulted in the city having to cover the losses, according to the Gazette.

China, which until recently took in 60 percent of Quebec’s exported scrap paper, announced in 2017 it was reducing the allowable percentage of contaminants per bale to 0.5 percent.

According to the Gazette, Montreal’s Centre de tri has been seeking other buyers in India, Indonesia and South Korea. However, by November 2017, most of the center’s outdoor storage space was stockpiled with 6,000 bales of paper.

The Quebec government announced in January 2018 that it would provide $3 million to six recyclables sorting plants in the province to help upgrade their operations, according to the article.