Industry Committee on April 17th, 2023

[Alexis Segal]

I think the reduction of waste is a good thing for sure. It could easily compensated for by increasing our market share. If we recycle 100% of our waste in North America, we can grow our business by far, even though we reduce by 50% the total waste. It doesn't go one against the other. I think that it's the right thing to do.

We are only part of the solution. The reuse is as important as the recycling. What we can do is recycle, and we're good at that.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

What role do the consumers play in ensuring that manufacturers are producing products that can be part of the circular economy? In a previous meeting, I suggested that if someone received some materials at the retail level, they simply unpack it and leave all of it at the retail level, because that puts pressure back on the retailer to deal with leftover waste or surplus packaging.

What can be done at the consumer level, from your perspective, or are you at more of a high level?

[Marie-Elise Viger]

One of the major things is, first, that people, once they reduce their consumption and reuse, the last step would be to recycle, but to recycle it in a facility and not throw it in the garbage.

It's to make sure that their end-of-life electronics reach a recycling centre, where they're broken apart and the plastic goes to the recycling facility for plastic and the metal part goes to a smelter and other recycling facilities.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I want to stay with the packaging a bit.

I just did a tour of a plant that uses pulp products, which uses some of the electronics in there. Are you seeing much of that in your industry, the use of pulp containers to hold the electronics inside the box, rather than plastic or styrofoam? Has there been any progress in that type of packaging?

[Marie-Elise Viger]

It is a challenge that we're looking at. We receive some material in what we call super sacks. They can hold a tonne. It is one of the challenges to make sure that they can be recycled, as they still have some metallic content.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

You also talked about the importance of a North American market or a “friendshore”.

I see that the European Union has set out some directives—I think it was in 2012—that require the separate collection and appropriate treatment of electronic waste and that set targets for collection, as well for recovery and recycling. The directives help European countries fight illegal waste exports and reduce the administrative burden by calling for the harmonization of national electronic waste registries and reporting formats.

To what extent would that help the industry, and to what extent would that influence the quality of the materials you receive? Would that reinforce the market you feel you need to have the...?

[Alexis Segal]

It's difficult for us to comment on public policy. The only thing we know is that in Europe, they are performing better than in North America in terms of recycling. That's the only comment I will make at this stage.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I think the benefit we would get now would be....

What are your recommendations that should be considered if we are working on public policy? I know that may not be your responsibility, but what would your suggestions be to improve policy so that it's more effective and so that we achieve these goals or better goals?

I think we all agree that our goals are pretty pitiful in relation to Europe. What would you recommend we consider, if there's a recommendation for policy change?

[Alexis Segal]

One recommendation is to know that there's a difference between what is waste and what is a product is treated at the border. If you pay for something, my sense is that it's a product. If you get paid, it's waste. We paid for all the stuff we received.

I think we need to clarify it. It's a bit like what we said in our presentation. We have to bring more predictability in the way recyclables cross borders, not just in North America but also between the rest of the world and Canada.

[Marie-Elise Viger]

I would like to add that for Europe, it's the WEEE regulation. The Horne smelter is certified to receive materials, so 15% of our feed comes from Europe under the WEEE agreement because we are certified.

For sure, if it's a Canadian obligation to have a similar structure, it would be advantageous to recycle within Canada.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

That would help the industry.

Thank you.

I believe I'm out of time, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

You are. Thank you, Mr. Van Bynen.

I now give the floor to Mr. Lemire.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Chair.

I will carry on with Glencore Canada’s representatives.

The Centre technologique des résidus industriels, or CTRI, the Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, or UQAT, through its Institut de recherche en mines et environnement, or IRME, have significant research expertise in the mining field, particularly with respect to industrial waste.

Historically, let’s just say that you don’t necessarily have a reputation for providing exemplary collaboration with the institutional community. Currently, and going forward, what kind of collaboration would you be willing to develop with these institutions? How could these resources help you perhaps go further in achieving your ambitions in terms of investment performance and reducing the level of toxic materials in Rouyn-Noranda’s air?

[Alexis Segal]

We are working more and more with institutions of higher learning. Ms. Viger could provide some examples.

[Marie-Elise Viger]

Absolutely. In fact, Glencore Canada is contributing $2.5 million towards funding the pavilion that will be built.

There is a group of mining industry and research partners called the Mining Innovation Zone, or MIZ, which includes CTRI, which you mentioned, UQAT and even other universities further afield. The smelter and Glencore Canada are part of that. We are included in the project application, which would bring together a variety of community partners to take the research further.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

How important do you consider the establishment of the MIZ in Rouyn-Noranda and Abitibi-Témiscamingue?

[Alexis Segal]

We think it is an excellent initiative. It is clear that Abitibi-Témiscamingue has an advantage and a mission throughout Quebec and Canada. The proximity between Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Northern Ontario and cities such as Sudbury and Timmins would give this mining innovation zone an influence that could quickly go beyond Quebec.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

In particular as regards circularity.

I don't have much time left, but I would be remiss if I did not ask you about studies on biomonitoring. You've questioned these studies several times over the past years.

What would it take for Glencore Canada to recognize a biomonitoring study?

How can we get solid and concrete scientific evidence as a starting point for discussions on the public health data from Rouyn-Noranda?

[Alexis Segal]

For several years, we have been asking for a complete biomonitoring study that would include several criteria such as fingernails, urine and blood, that would be carried out over several months with samples supervised by independent neutral experts, and whose methodology would be published in one of the most recognized scientific journals in order to give the most information possible.

There is a lot of talk about transparency, but there is one thing we can do quickly, all together, if we work on it. It is to do a complete, rigorous, scientific and published biomonitoring study. That is also part of transparency. We are fully in favour of this, which we have asked the authorities to do on several occasions.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I'm pleasantly surprised.

In short, let me say, as I have often done over the past few years, that I live in the Sacré-Coeur neighbourhood, which is just a few metres from the Notre-Dame neighbourhood, and I would definitely contribute to those efforts.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lemire.

Mr. Masse, you have the floor.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm going to follow up with Glencore.

With regard to research and development, how much is that of your overall revenue? What do you put into that? Do you use SR and ED tax credits from Canada?

Finally, where does your research and development mostly come from? Is it in Canada or is it abroad? What do we need to do differently if we don't get somebody to do research and development here?

[Alexis Segal]

I would like Peter to talk about XPS .

[Peter Fuchs]

Yes, certainly.

In Sudbury, Ontario, XPS, or Expert Process Solutions, is a test work centre where we're doing quite a lot of work on recycling capabilities. It's looking at lithium ion batteries, for example, and at how we do more of them and how we get them to work well with our current processing.

Certainly we're looking very closely into research and development and are eager to do more of it as well.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Do you have a percentage set for this?

I want to follow up with how you would rate Canada. You don't have to say that we're crappy or whatever; I just want to know whether we're competitive with regard to doing the research and development here or if we're out of step with another country, perhaps. Maybe we're not. I don't know, but I'd like to get a lens on that.