Answer Q. 01 : You can put the following materials in your roll-out recycling bin or your regulatory recycling container:

Paper and cardboard:
Every paper and cardboard item that is clean, including milk, cream and juice containers.

Tips and tricks:
Remove plastic bags (Publi-sac) and the plastic wrap which covers catalogues and magazines before putting them in the recycle bin. Take apart cardboard boxes in order to avoid overfilling your recycle bin.

Plastic:
Plastic bottles and containers marked with the symbol

Tips and tricks:
Rinse all containers and remove all caps before putting them into bin.

• Clean Styrofoam containers, plastic lids and caps as well as oil containers and drip dry.

Tips and tricks:
Remove all traces of food and grease.

Metals: 
Food cans and soft drink cans, aluminium plates and paper.

Tips and tricks:
Rinse properly. It is not mandatory to remove labels from food cans. However, if you wish to do so, the paper will be recycled. For your security, it is better to fold metal lids inside the cans.

• Empty paint cans, cleaned and dried.

Glass:
Bottles, jugs and containers of clear or coloured glass, properly rinsed.

Tips and tricks:
Rinse properly. It is not mandatory to remove labels from glass containers. However, if you wish to do so, the paper will be recycled. Remove all lids and caps.

All material to be recycled must be placed separately in the regulatory recycle bin or container, except for plastic bags, dry cleaning bags and plastic wrap which must be placed in a separate bag, properly tied. 

It is also important to rinse recyclable containers in order to protect the health of workers and avoid contamination of recyclable materials.

Answer Q. 02 : Tissues (paper), paper towels and napkins, any paper that is dirty (oil, food, etc.), plastic which is not identified with the recycling symbol, rubber, toys, resin chairs, pool drop cloths,  cereal bags, crackers or chips, meat, or cheese packaging or wrapping contaminated with grease or foods, light bulbs, glass (window), dishes, porcelain, ceramic, broken windows or glass, drinking straws, gift wrap and bows, photographs and photo album pages, fabric softener sheets for the dryer and 3-ring binders.

Answer Q. 03 : Food scraps, garden residue and other substances make for an excellent quality compost:

• Fruit and vegetable peels and skins, corn on the cob
• Eggshells, nuts and peanut shells
• Bread and pasta
• Meat, poultry, fish and seafood (except oysters)
• Grease
• Milk products
• Ground and filter coffee, tea bags, tisanes and infusions
• Expired food, removed from its packaging

Tips and tricks:
Set up an intermediary container close to the sink to collect table scraps, and empty them into the brown recycle bin. Lining with a paper bag or paper towel should keep this intermediary container clean.

• Flowers, plants and weeds
• Grass turf, hay and stubble

Tips and tricks:
Deposit them loosely in the bin without using green, orange or transparent plastic bags.

• Dead leaves, conifer needles, small twigs and wood chips.
• Body hair
• Paper and cardboard soiled by food materials (napkins, tissues, pizza delivery boxes, fried chicken etc.)

Tips and tricks:
As much as possible, the brown recycle bin should always be placed in the shade away from the sun in order to reduce odour from decomposition. To eliminate odour, clean it with water a few times a year.

Answer Q. 04 : Bone, mussels and oyster shells, cedar hedges, ashes, logs or tree stumps/trunks.

Answer Q. 05 : Every material that is not accepted in the recycling bin or compost bin as well as ashes from the fireplace.

Tips and tricks:
Ashes from the fireplace must be cooled down and deposited in plastic bags before being put in the bin. For all material destined for landfill, use plastic bags and tie them properly

Answer Q. 06 : Generally, to facilitate collection, we have to:

1. Remove any object used to secure the bin (chains, locks, etc) in order to avoid that they get caught in the collection mechanism of the bin.
2. Place the bins so that its wheels as well as its handles face the opposite side of the street.
3. Leave a distance of 2 feet (0, 6 meters) between bins, mail box and trees.
4. Place the bin or regulatory container on the curb the day before collection day.
5. Never dispose of materials next to the roll-out bins except when there is a special collection (Christmas trees, piles of leaves).

Answer Q. 07 : DDW (Dangerous Domestic Waste) have toxic properties that can endanger either someone’s health and/or the environment if they are not used, stored or disposed of in a safe manner.

Some DDW examples include: pills, syringes, batteries, gas propane tanks, all detergents, gas or oil, pitch, anti-freeze, animal poisons, fungicides, herbicides, paints, pool cleaners, stove cleaners and tires.

Must municipalities offer either a permanent location accessible year-round or an annual pick-up. For more information, please get in touch with your municipality.

Answer Q. 08 : This process is sure-fire way to reach the objectives for the "Quebec Residual Materials Management Policy 1998-2008" established by Quebec’s "Ministère de l'Environnement", whose goal is to recycle 65% of waste material.

The 3-way collection system, consisting of a alternating collection of recycled materials and waste, on a yearly basis, as well as compost, on a weekly basis from mid-April thru mid-November, helps to contribute to a decrease in recyclable materials going to a waste disposal facility.

This 3-way system developed by Gaudreau has shown that the efficiency of this program has saved 51.3% of recycled materials from going to the waste disposal facility of Victoriaville for 2004.

Answer Q. 09 : The five R’s are: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Residual management. They underline the principals related to the protection of the environment. In order of importance:

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle
• Recover
• Residual management

Answer Q. 10 : A newspaper takes between 3-4 months to decompose under favourable conditions, such as wind, rain and sun, (under snow it does not decompose).

Answer Q. 11 : A Javel bleach bottle takes between 70 to 80 years and a small margarine container takes about 35 years. Also, plastic is particularly pollutant because when decomposing, it emits petroleum, which is released into the ground.

Answer Q. 12 : A metal can takes up to 100 years to decompose and a soft drink can takes 200 to 400 years.

Answer Q. 13 : Glass never decomposes in nature! This is why archaeologists often find glass artefacts during excavations.

Answer Q. 14 : Recycled paper is used to create other paper, toilet paper, newspaper, etc. Paper is the only material to have a lifespan in terms of recycling because its fibres wear out after being recycled many times. An eggcarton constitutes one of its last life stages.

Answer Q. 15 : There are between 40 to 50 different types of plastics and each of them will be used to make new objects. Currently, only 7 of them are identified and recycled. Recycled plastic can never be reused as a food container. Instead we will make recycling bins, flower pots, picnic tables, mouldings, casings, carpets and even polarfleece clothing.

Answer Q. 16 : Once it has been melted at high temperature, recycled aluminium will be used to make new containers such as cans and plates as well as airplanes. For tin cans, they will be used to make construction beams, cars and even bridges.

Answer Q. 17 : Recycled glass is of higher quality than its original state.  We will therefore make new glass pots and vases or even reflective paints and building insulation.

Answer Q. 18 : By combining weekly collection of compost materials, from mid-April to mid-November, to the collection of recyclable materials and waste, Gaudreau manages to divert 66% of recyclable materials or composts from landfills.