Starting in December, local residents and businesses will be able to drop off their refundable/returnable containers at a new depot located in downtown Montreal, in the former bus station building at the corner of Berri and de Maisonneuve.

The drop-off center will be open to the public all year round, and citizens will be able to return their refundable/returnable containers in three containers set up outside, in the lane formerly reserved for buses, at the rear of the building.

The depot, which will also include a 1,000 sq. ft. recycling centre , will be managed by Coop Les Valoristes, a social economy enterprise.

The Les Valoristes cooperative employs thousands of men and women in vulnerable socio-economic situations. They collect returnable beverage containers, mainly during the summer, from their temporary installation under the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, from public spaces and from citizens' recycling bags and bins. Every day, they process over 25,000 containers (and up to 80,000 on certain summer days) on their sorting tables, the only ones of their kind in Quebec. This year, due to the pandemic, the Coop achieved exceptional results, collecting 2.4 million containers in just 80 days.

The new premises come at just the right time for the cooperative, which will now be able to pursue its activities all year round, collect more containers and develop more efficient sorting techniques. For citizens and businesses, it's also a way of killing two birds with one stone: doing something for the environment while creating jobs for people in difficulty.

As a long-standing partner, Consignaction supports the initiatives and mission of the Les Valoristes solidarity cooperative, which has collected and sorted nearly 5.5 million refundable/returnable containers and non-consignables since its creation in 2012.