A local company wants to establish itself as the national reference for the recovery of polystyrene, also called styrofoam, which is currently recyclable only in sorting centers in Quebec.
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Polystyrene is a category 6 plastic that cannot be recovered, but Éco-captation wants to recycle it.
“We recycle more than one tonne per day, our capacity is around one tonne per hour, so we are able to process 8,000 tonnes per year. Which makes us probably the largest polystyrene sorting center in North America,” explains Gille Venne, vice-president of Éco-captation.
With the granules of this recyclable material, the company is able to manufacture street furniture.
The local company can also transform it into a concrete additive which is used to increase its resistance to freezing and thawing.
“Currently, it is used for making underground gutters for Hydro-Quebec and Hydro-Ontario,” he says.
Éco-captation wishes to establish itself as a model across Canada.
“The goal is to have at least one plant like this per province within 5 to 10 years and to recover all the polystyrene possible,” said the vice-president.
According to its vice-president, this opportunity might happen once more for other companies.
“We take one step at a time and we hope on our side that this step will encourage other companies to try to recycle orphan products,” he said.
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