The paper you’re holding in your hands has gone through a lot this week. In last week’s story “Hot off the press: How The Concordian gets printed,” the paper version began its journey at Transcontinental Printing in Anjou, Quebec.
(1) Here, at 4 a.m., a proof of the newspaper’s Nov. 24 cover is laid out on the printing
technician’s table, where it will be checked for colour accuracy and proper registration.
(2) After being trucked across Montreal in the wee hours of the morning, 8,000 copies of The Concordian are dropped off at Concordia University’s Hall building downtown. Hardeep Singh, an information security student at the university, helps his friend, Vinod Balhra, load up his car to deliver the freshly printed papers to the Loyola campus.
(3) The Concordian hits the stands in the Hall building around 10 a.m. All papers will be distributed on both campuses and in Montreal’s cafés and pubs. Anything that isn’t picked up will be recycled the following week.
(4) Robby Sekhon walks into the Hall building at 10:30 a.m. and picks up a new copy of the paper. “I’m a recycling freak,” says the psychology major. “At home we have a routine, we make sure we don’t throw anything out that could be recycled.”
(5) All of the paper in the blue recycling bins on both campuses makes its way to the EV building with the help of a unique group of volunteers and staff. R4 and Environmental Coordinator, Faisel Shennib (left) plots with Barry Wood (right) on how to streamline recycling services at the school. They debate whether “slimJims” – the tall slender recycling bins – are better than the big blue bins in the Library building, and discuss ways to better inform students about which materials are recyclable. Wood supervises custodial/recycling and thinks clearer instructions above the big bins are needed. He says students wouldn’t believe what he’s found in the recycling bins during his Concordia career. “Paper coffee cups are the most frequent, chip bags, aerosol cans, paint, condoms . . . vomit. Once even a diaper. I was so shocked when I saw a diaper.”
To find out what actually can go into recycling bins, email or visit: [email protected]; http://r4.concordia.ca; http://sustainable.concordia.ca
(6) Meet the Recyclers from the West Montreal Readaptation Centre. This group of men and women volunteer in different capacities at the university, mostly in recycling. Here David Allen (far left), sits beside Charley Atkins, and the rest of the group during their daily lunch break. David is very vocal about some of the things he sees in the recycling bins. “Sometimes the bags are so heavy, and leaking liquid because people don’t empty their bottles.”
“You know what really bugs the three of us?” he asks. “When we put extra bags in so we can change them later, but they get all dirty and we have to throw them out. Such a waste!”
(7) Guy Lindstrom has been volunteering in Concordia’s recycling department for over 30 years. As he zips around the offices in the Faubourg building with fellow volunteer, Danny Campbell, you can tell he knows the buildings inside and out.
(8) Charley Atkins picks up the recycling from Concordia’s EV building. His big toothy grin and the intensity with which he goes about his job are his signatures. The educator who works with the group, Mary Welch, says all the men take a great deal of pride in their jobs. “It’s relevant and makes them feel they’re contributing to the community and environment.” However, Welch stresses that the men find it hard to deal with the amount of garbage they find in the bins. “It’s so discouraging for the guys when they open up the bins and there’s a lot of stuff in there that shouldn’t be in there in the first place. If I can just get people to stop putting coffee cups in the recycling, I’d be happy,” says Welch.
(9) Stephano Brunello is a maintenance group leader at Concordia. He says generally about six to eight tons of paper product are picked up from both campuses each week and delivered to the EV building. Brunello then loads it into the compactor and calls for a driver to come pick it up.
(10) Denis McCoul drives a truck for Matrec, the subcontracted company that picks up Concordia’s compactor and trucks it out to the Kruger sorting plant. On this particular Tuesday, Denis picks up a load of compressed paper and cardboard weighing 6,540 kg. He drives to Kruger’s Turcal facilities on Notre Dame St. in Montreal.
(11) Kruger’s paper sorting plant takes only paper and is one of three in Quebec. All the products are hand sorted in a four-step system; into piles such as OCC (odd corrugated containers), newsprint, white ledger, hard white and office mix. Then it’s pulped next door at the paperboard mill, Place Turcot, by being immersed in hot water which makes it look “like Kleenex in water, just shredded.” After being reduced to pulp, the paper that was previously this newspaper is turned into giant rolls of paper to be sold and used. Along with a fourth plant in New York, Kruger’s three Quebec recycling facilities produce approximately 340,000 tonnes of recycled product annually and recycle around 700,000 tonnes of paper products.
