Site Inventory and Final Waste Management - The BAPE Launches a Broad Public Consultation

QUÉBEC CITY, Feb. 21, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - The Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE) is launching a broad public consultation on the current status and management of final waste. This mandate was entrusted to the BAPE by the Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Mr. Benoit Charette, who deems it necessary to conduct an in-depth reflection on the disposal of final waste throughout Québec.

The BAPE's commission of inquiry is composed of Ms. Julie Forget and Mr. Pierre Renaud and is chaired by Mr. Joseph Zayed. The commissioners' résumés are available on the BAPE website.

The Commissioners will be assisted by a team of experienced analysts to complete their mandate, which begins on March 8. The report is to be submitted to the Minister no later than December 22, 2021.

Under the terms of the mandate, the BAPE is to draw up a current picture of residual materials disposal as well as a picture of the anticipated disposal capacity for the next 20 years. Furthermore, in order to inform government decision-making aimed at closing the gaps between the anticipated disposal capacity and the needs, the Minister asks the BAPE:

• to carry out a stakeholder mapping exercise that integrates the roles and concerns of the various stakeholders with respect to the management of final waste.
• to analyze existing disposal or treatment methods as well as innovative technologies and mechanisms, particularly those used elsewhere in the world, which Québec could adopt to recover energy sources or materials while promoting the principles of the circular economy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
• to assess measures, solutions, or requirements to ensure better management of final waste, considering the various regional contexts.
• to determine the conditions conducive to the social acceptability of the various options analyzed, based on best practices.

What is Final Waste?

Final waste is waste found at the very end of the cycle of sorting, recovery, and reclamation of residual materials. This concept of final waste is evolutionary and can change according to the measures that will be put in place to divert residual materials from disposal. 

Resource Persons and Consultation Documents

As part of its mandate, the commission brings in resource people whose role includes helping citizens and the commission to better understand the issues related to final waste management.

Thus, the commission asked the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Société québécoise de récupération et de recyclage (Recyc-Québec) to draft reference documents to initiate the public consultation.

All documentation will be made public on the BAPE website as it becomes available.

SOURCE Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement