Montréal, February 2, 2023 – With the acquisition by Ricova of six optical sorters from the French company specializing in machinery for sorting centres, Pellenc ST, the Saint-Michel sorting centre now has a contamination rate of 2%. This meets the high standards of the International Scrap Recycling Industries. Since acquiring the hub in the summer of 2020, Ricova has made over $6 million in private investment. The modernization has enabled the Saint-Michel sorting centre to be upgraded after years without investment. New optical sorters have significantly reduced the level of contaminants in mixed paper from around 35% to 2%.

The Saint-Michel sorting center equipment upgrade was started by Ricova upon take-over in August 2020, but the pandemic and supply chain issues have slowed down the delivery and installation of optical sorters. The work was completed in January 2023. The six additional optical sorters, including four for paper and two for plastic, as well as the work required to install this machinery, including electrical, total private investment by Ricova of more than $6 million over two and a half years.

“Achieving a 2% contamination rate was a very ambitious goal given the state of the hub when we acquired it, but after months of work and investment, we finally got there,” said Colubriale, President and CEO of Ricova. “This is thanks to the collaboration with Pellenc ST, who supplied us with machines of very high quality in the best possible time. Their expertise and expert advice made our project feasible.”

“Modernizing the plant was a huge challenge as we could not suspend operations – even for a week! – to make the improvements, considering the large tonnage to be treated. The upgrade to the hub took hundreds of hours of work and we can now say it’s mission accomplished. Without the hard work and support of the entire team, we would never have made it. I want to personally thank them for their dedication,” said Nicolas Fortier-Labonté, Director of Sorting Centres at Ricova.

“We were contacted very early by Ricova to improve the performance of the Saint-Michel sorting centre and took the challenge. Their project is our specialty: we accompany sorting centers into modernity to make their work ultra-efficient. Even though we have been slowed down by the pandemic, we have stayed the course until we reach our goals. We will remain partners in any future project carried out by Ricova,” said Jean Henin, President of Pellenc ST.

“We are extremely proud to be able to confirm today that the latest characterization report rewards our modernization efforts since we took over operations of the sorting center, in the summer of 2020. This is excellent news for Montrealers who must continue to deposit their recyclable materials in their blue bins,” concluded Dominic Colubriale.

Summary 

• Ricova acquired and installed a total of 6 branded optical sorters Pellenc ST, four for paper and two for plastic.
• Ricova has invested over $6 million in private investment to modernize equipment since the acquisition of the Saint-Michel hub in August 2020.
• The contamination rate at the time the sorting centre was acquired was approximately 35%. It is now at 2%, which meets the specifications of the City of Montreal and the highest industry standards.
• The Saint-Michel sorting centre sorts approximately 90,000 to 100,000 tonnes annually.
• It is the largest sorting centre in Quebec. It houses materials from 18 boroughs and ecocentres in Montreal.
• The Saint-Michel sorting centre processed approximately 30,000 additional tonnes from neighbouring sorting centres in 2022 alone, in addition to the City of Montreal’s large tonnage.

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