Settlement on drinking containers | The toiletters set in fine

The failures in the modernization of the Quebec setpoint on drinking containers will cost $ 27,500 fine to the Quebec AQUE CONTAIRS OF BEVERAGES (AQRCB), a “severe reprimand” according to an observer.

“The AQRCB has committed 22 shortcomings” to its obligations, concluded the investigation targeting the organization created by the traffic jams to set up and managed the modernized system, the Ministry of the Environment, the fight against climate change, fauna and parks, in a statement on Monday.

The AQRCB is notably accused of not having ensured the collection of containers in a place of return at least twice a week and for not having reimbursed the sums engaged by a merchant within 30 days.

The AQRCB also failed in its obligation to open places of return to the distant territories and has failed to take steps with all the bars and restaurants where it has the obligation to recover the recorded containers.

The disputes between the AQRCB to certain partners have not all been submitted to a mediator or have been without all the contractual elements being mentioned, which also constitutes a violation of the organization’s obligations.

The president and chief executive officer of the AQRCB, Normand Bisson, submitted to three interrogations under oath and about fifteen witnesses were met within the framework of the investigation, which took place from November 27 to June 6.

Correct “without delay”

Quebec orders the AQRCB “to comply without delay” to its obligations and to send it by July 21 on July 21, corrective measures with a schedule to carry them out.

Otherwise, or if the proposed measures are deemed insufficient, the ministry “assesses[ra] The relevance of carrying out an investigation for a criminal prosecution or of having recourse to any other administrative or judicial measure, “explained his spokesperson, Louis Potvin.

“We will continue our rigorous follow -up of the file,” promised the Minister of the Environment Benoit Charette in a declaration sent by his cabinet, believing that the investigation “had the expected results”.

This administrative investigation, triggered under the Law on commissions of inquiryoccurred after many cafouts surrounding the deployment of the modernized consignment system.

These failures had also led to partially shift the establishment of the modernization of the system, referring to 2027 the instruction on the glass containers still not recorded, such as wine bottles, and on multilayer containers, such as milk and juice boxes.

Faced with the accumulation of problems, Minister Charette had not excluded the possibility of withdrawing from the AQRCB the management of the instruction, at the end of the investigation.

Unpublished sanction

The sanctions imposed by Quebec are a “severe reprimand” and unprecedented for a management body designated as the AQRCB, judges the director general of the Quebec Common Front for ecological waste management, Karel Ménard.

“The government comes to say” you have not done things as you should have done them “, he says, believing that it is not the amount of fines that is important, since these will be paid for the income from the instructions.

The postponement of part of the instruction at 2027 has caused additional expenses for certain producers and retailers, he says-the bill amounts to $ 100 million for the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), had calculated Radio-Canada.

“The AQRCB will not have a second chance,” believes Karel Ménard, who recalls that the modernization of the instruction is one of the flagship promises of the government of François Legault, which the Prime Minister had announced in person.

Nothing important, said the aqrcb

The investigation has not revealed “any worrying element”, reacted the AQRCB, adding that certain shortcomings had been corrected before it even begins and that the others “will be the subject of a corrective measurement plan, whose related details will be transmitted to the ministry, as prescribed”.

The organization also maintains that complying with some of its obligations is “technically impracticable” and says it wants to lead “constructive discussions” with the government during the summer “in order to identify the required routes”.

The AQRCB claims that the survey has slowed down the deployment of the new consignment system due to the “intensive mobilization [de ses] Resources to ensure full collaboration in the process ”and ensures that it will now be able to speed up the rate.

Only 50 places of return Consignation and Consignation+, managed directly by the AQRCB, were opened on the date of 1^is June, while the organization promised 200 for the 1^is Last March and 400 by the end of 2026 – the modernization of the instructions, announced in 2020, had been entrusted to the AQRCB in October 2022.

The investigation report will not be made public, says Quebec; Only a four -page summary has been published.