Expanded service offering in circular economy in Bécancour-Nicolet-Yamaska-Arthabaska-Érable thanks to the support of RECYC-QUÉBEC and thirteen regional partners.

Centre-du-Québec (Victoriaville), March 17, 2021. – The Corporation for Sustainable Development (“ CDD ”) is pleased to announce a circular economy project that will be deployed across the territories of four (4) MRCs in Centre-du-Québec for a duration of 30 months, thanks to a support of $240,000 obtained from RECYC-QUÉBEC as part of the call for proposals Transition to a Circular Economy. Thirteen other regional financial partners (listed below) are participating in the project to complete the budget totaling $517,000. These regional partners also play a collaborative role in carrying out the mandate.

Circular economy: business opportunities for companies in the region
The project will consist of supporting companies in adopting circular economy practices and identifying business opportunities. Companies will be guided, among other things, to exchange resources among themselves, find outlets for their materials sent to landfill, optimize the use of their materials upstream, and engage in eco-design. Without limiting itself, the sectors primarily targeted will be agri-food, metal manufacturing, and wood processing industries. To effectively support companies, stimulate exchanges, and create synergies, two people will act as facilitators across the four (4) MRCs.

 

“ CDD is extremely proud to announce this project. The circular economy is emerging as a promising solution for more sustainable regional economic development. This project will provide an opportunity for CDD and its 13 regional partners to coordinate their efforts to deploy circular economy strategies at the regional level across these territories,” expresses Christian Héon, president of CDD.

Revival of the circular economy in Nicolet-Bécancour

In Bécancour-Nicolet-Yamaska, the project brings together the efforts of the three partners, namely (in alphabetical order) the MRC of Bécancour, the MRC of Nicolet-Yamaska, and the SADC of Nicolet-Bécancour, through its sustainable development support program PROAction funded by the Alcoa Foundation, to reactivate a circular economy service in these territories. In this sense, the prefects of these two MRCs agree: “Thanks to the collaboration with CDD, we are very happy to relaunch initiatives in circular economy on our territory,” indicates Mario Lyonnais, prefect of the MRC of Bécancour and mayor of the municipality of Sainte-Françoise. “We believe it is important for the economic development partners in the region to work closely together to offer these services to businesses. This project is proof that it is relevant to unite our efforts,” adds Geneviève Dubois, prefect of the MRC of Nicolet-Yamaska and mayor of the municipality of Nicolet. 

Arthabaska-Érable Zone

In Arthabaska-Érable, the project is part of the continuity of an ongoing project, Circular Economy Arthabaska-Érable, which received support in 2019 from the Desjardins Movement. The current regional financial partners of the project have agreed to extend their support to continue efforts over time. These partners (in alphabetical order) are: the Economic Development Corporation of Victoriaville and its region (CDEVR), the Cégep of Victoriaville, the CFER Normand-Maurice, Gesterra, the MRC of L’Érable (Economic Development of L’Érable), the SADC Arthabaska-Érable, the City of Plessisville, the City of Princeville, the City of Victoriaville and the City of Warwick.  Alain St-Pierre, prefect of the MRC of Arthabaska and mayor of the municipality of St-Albert, mentions that “for several years, the MRC of Arthabaska has supported various initiatives related to industrial ecology and the circular economy. We are pleased to see that concerted actions are increasingly being promoted to find sustainable solutions to issues related, among other things, to waste management.” “ We believe that this regional project will establish continuity in the efforts already displayed by our MRC in addition to establishing a vision of sustainable development for our businesses,” mentions Jocelyn Bédard, prefect of the MRC of L’Érable and mayor of the municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes. 

 

The announcement from Recyc-Québec

Read the press release from RECYC-QUÉBEC published on March 17, 2021, to learn about all the projects selected by the call for proposals Transition to a Circular Economy: “ RECYC-QUÉBEC grants $3.3M to circular economy projects ”.

About the Corporation for Sustainable Development

Founded in Victoriaville in 2012, the Corporation for Sustainable Development (CDD) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness, mobilize, and equip regional organizations in Centre-du-Québec to facilitate the concerted management of sustainable development issues. It collaborates or takes charge of managing projects and/or services related to sustainable development. In the territories of the MRCs of Arthabaska and L’Érable, CDD contributes, among other things, to the deployment of a strategic support service in sustainable development, the Démarche d2, and offers a support service in circular economy. In Centre-du-Québec, CDD is the leading organization of the Fonds Écoleader.