It’s been a little over a year now, and TBL’s volunteer glass recycling program is proving to be quite successful. Ghyslain Forcier, the town’s communications manager, told Tempo “the town is pleased with the way things are going and the program is well established.’’ An average of 8 tons of glass per month (one container full every two weeks) has been collected.

A glass recycling container was installed in the IGA parking lot in October 2019. The objective to shift glass from blue boxes to this new container was twofold; to reduce the
contamination of other recycled materials in the blue box, and improve the quality of recycled glass. The new revenue the town collects from this recycled glass does not cover the cost of transporting the containers to the recycling plant. As Mr. Forcier explained this program is not a business case. The purpose is to improve the overall quality of recycling. Thanks to the incentive grants of Recyc-Québec, Mr. Forcier stated that the town has been increasing its overall tonnage of recycled material each year. The town could even increase its overall tonnage if the new container attracts glass from non TBL residents. When asked about the impact on the blue box tonnage because of the new glass recycling program, Mr. Forcier said there has been no noticeable impact so far but that the pandemic may have distorted the data.

To be clear this is a volunteer program. Glass is still accepted in the blue box. Changing habits takes will and repetition before sticking. Keeping a separate container for glass in your kitchen or garage might make the difference. Broken wine glasses are not accepted (a different grade of glass) in the new container however, all glass food containers and their lids are accepted. There is no need to remove labels. Mr. Forcier said that efforts to reach new residents about the program will be ongoing.