New project aims to reduce construction waste on Quebec building sites

Construction workers try to recycle more Several construction firms in Quebec want to recycle more and are launching a program to do it on-site.

With the amount of construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) waste sent to landfill steadily increasing over the past five years, the Quebec professional construction and housing association (APCHQ) is set to launch a pilot project to sort materials directly on construction sites.

In 2021, CRDs accounted for nearly one-third of the materials sent to landfill, according to Recyc-Québec's latest waste management report. The 1,018,000 tonnes of waste generated by the construction and renovation industry represented a 20 per cent increase in three years.

This increase undermined the progress made in other sectors, particularly in the reduction of domestic waste. The Legault government set a goal of capping the amount of waste produced per Quebecer at 525 kilograms by the end of 2019.

Several companies working in the new housing and renovation sector will take part in the APCHQ initiative, namely Construction Audet from Centre-du-Québec, Construction Rocket and UrbanÉco from Estrie, Écohabitations boréales from the Laurentians, Les Habitations Jasmont Deschênes from Montérégie, Groupe TRÉM from Laval, Groupe Immobilier Brochu 2015 from Chaudière-Appalaches and Espé from Montréal.

The project will be coordinated by Stratzer, an environmental consulting firm specializing in waste management, and financed by the Écoleader Fund.

The results of the 10-month pilot project will be compiled in a report, the objective of which will be to highlight the best practices implemented in the various contexts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 20, 2023.