2023-10-07 04:00:00
The end of Patrick’s golden age is coming. The 47-year-old valorist can make $85 in 90 minutes by collecting cans, but for how much longer?
“I just pick up these, 20 cent cans. On the Plateau, they’re not poor people! Everyone drinks microbrewery,” says Patrick Moussette, who moved from Sherbrooke to Montreal three months ago, and who relies on cans as extra income.
The value of cans will soon change; That’s not exactly good news for this aluminum treasure seeker.
“I’ll have to collect more, but I won’t make more money,” he thinks.
Resourceful, the professional building painter sometimes even goes door to door in wealthy neighborhoods to rid people of their cans.
“The world doesn’t have time to go there. A woman gave me $100 the other week. I remained looking stupid,” says the man who still surprises people’s generosity.
The change in the value of cans will perhaps push him to resume his DEP in building painting. After three months in Montreal, two and a half of which were collecting cans, he aspires to a better income.
“It’s playing hard in the can world. Some are truly incredible. They start early, it’s stupid,” summarizes this recruit in the world of valorists.
Not a big change
Henri Didillon has always recorded his cans. photo julien mcevoy
Henri Didillon, for his part, will not change anything in his habits. “I deposit for the environment,” says the retiree, who sits on various residual materials management committees.
This former financial director of a large city knows from experience how much administrations spend – “a fortune” – when non-returnable containers end up in the landfill.
Not only that, but it makes sense to recycle and deposit more, he says, especially when you know that a returnable can returns to the shelf in 60 days.
He does it too, because those, like Patrick, “who want to make money” open all the recycling bags to find cans, “but they don’t close anything and everything flies into the street followingwards”.
Regardless, Henri will continue to come to Maxi to return his cans to the machine, no matter how much they are worth. “I am used to.”
Little revolution
On November 1, 500 ml aluminum beer cans will be worth 10 cents instead of 20. On the other hand, those that were worth 5 cents will be worth 10.
We will also add 300 million new returnable containers, such as cans of Perrier, V8 or Bubly, a sparkling water popular in Quebec.
“It will result in more reimbursements for people, but above all it is very good news for the environment,” indicates Normand Bisson, president and CEO of the Association québécoise de recycle descontainers de beverages (AQRCB).
Quebec currently records 2.5 billion glass and aluminum containers. On November 1, it will be 2.8 billion. And in 2025, at the time of the “real” revolution? It will be 5.2 billion, especially with the addition of the famous plastic water bottles.
For the moment, we especially note the standardization of the deposit price, which will increase to 10 cents for all aluminum drink cans.
And of course the fact that all cans over 100 ml and under 2 l will now be returnable.
“It will require adaptation, but the system is capable of taking it and it is the right decision for Quebec,” believes Normand Bisson.
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