Press Release
BIG Inspector’s Report
The City must not question the profits of Ricova International,
a separate company
Brossard, March 23rd, 2022 – “Ricova has never cheated the city of Montreal,” says Dominic Colubriale, president and CEO of Ricova. In fact, the city has never made as much money from recycling as it has in the last 14 months with 5.8 million dollars royalties from Ricova.
Ricova International has acted as a buyer and reseller since its creation in 2001. For the past 20 years, Ricova International has purchased the material from many sorting centres in Quebec, including the Lachine and Saint-Michel centres. Ricova International then finds buyers to whom it sells materials from all combined sources, creating value in the global circular economy.
“This business model has never been a problem for the City, as for over 20 years before Ricova took over the operations of the Montreal sorting centres, Montreal has never questioned the profits Ricova International made on the resale,” says Colubriale.
At all times, Ricova has provided the City with the best market prices. This point was confirmed by an expert report produced by an independent firm. “The prices at which the materials were sold to Ricova International favour the City of Montreal,” says Colubriale. “In addition, the contracts to operate the sorting centres in Lachine and Saint-Michel saved the City and its citizens several million dollars compared to previous contractors.” Ricova International also demonstrates agility by applying just-in-time (Lean) principles.
The accusations in the BIG report show poor understanding of how the recycling value chain works. Sorting centres are not equipped to set up an international network for the recovery of sorted materials, which requires complex infrastructures and documentation. In that sense, Ricova International has always been a constant and reliable partner, but more importantly, it has always offered the best prices to sorting centres, compared to the only two other Quebec companies that offer the same services.
“To the extent that Ricova RSC and Ricova Lachine have kept the contracts to the letter, the City does not have to question the profits made by Ricova International, an entity completely separate from the sorting centres,” says Colubriale. “Does the City question the price Nespresso gets when it resells aluminum from coffee pods?”
Ricova wishes to continue to serve the citizens of the City of Montreal and recalls that Ricova RSC and Ricova Lachine were the only companies willing and able to resume the chaos left by the previous contractor.
“The City blames us for a lack of transparency, but after two years of operations at the Montreal sorting centres, despite our many requests, it was never possible to meet with elected officials to sit down together and respond to their concerns!” deplores Dominic Colubriale.
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