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We come from the farming world: our clients are farmers, and the majority of our shareholders and directors come from agricultural cooperatives. Our business is owned by nearly 19,000 Quebec farmers.
Our environmental mission and corporate values aim to support a green, circular, social and sustainable economy.
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The agricultural valorization of FRM is well established: just like for manure, spreading is governed by strict rules, in particular to protect the air, water and soil.
Quebec regulations, supported by numerous characterization tests and quality controls, are regularly updated and promote rigorous risk management.
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Viridis participates in regulatory updates in several ways: through its representations to the ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP), its contribution to the government committee on the use of biosolids and to the MRF committee of the Ordre des agronomes du Québec, and its ongoing involvement in Réseau-Environnement.
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Fertilizing residual materials (FRM) are residues that can be used as organic fertilizers or as mineral soil amendments for crops, and include wastewater treatment biosolids, residues from the food industry, and green residues.
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Agricultural recycling of fertilizing residual materials is safe and beneficial. The benefits are agronomic, economic and environmental.
As the Ordre des agronomes du Québec has pointed out: “The advantages of recycling FRM for the fight against climate change and for the Quebec agricultural sector by tapping their fertilizing potential for crops are undeniable. The alternatives of landfilling and incineration are simply not sustainable in the long term.”
Agricultural recycling of FRM is an important way to reduce the GHG emissions that cause climate change. It is an ecological alternative to the burial of high quality organic or mineral materials.
By recycling these materials, farmers provide an environmental service to communities and avoid the use of imported chemical fertilizers that are often produced from fossil fuels.
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Agricultural recycling of FRM generates a supply of organic matter and helps improve soil fertility, structure, aeration, water retention capacity, stimulation of biological activity, etc.
It supports the objectives of Quebec’s Sustainable Agriculture Plan, in particular through carbon storage and reduced use of nitrogen fertilizers.
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For farmers, it helps mitigate the impact of the surge in synthetic fertilizer prices and general inflation, which greatly affect the sustainability of agricultural businesses.
For communities, recycling FRM costs 3 to 5 times less than burying or incinerating them. Recycling also makes it possible to contribute locally to the development of the circular economy.
We won't stop using our toilets, but we can ban the use of PFAS
(fluorinated compounds) in commonly used products.
Municipal biosolids have to go somewhere and the other options for disposing of them are not very attractive. Sending them to landfill or burning them is not an ecologically sustainable solution, it costs more, wastes nutrients, emits GHGs and all of these methods leave PFAS in the environment.
Researchers, environmental groups, and recyclers agree: the only real solution is to stop making and using these chemicals in everyday products, as they pollute the planet at every stage of their life cycle. It is now found EVERYWHERE: in tap water, in sewage, but also in rainwater and in the blood of humans like wild animals.
Governments are currently working to develop maximum allowable levels for their presence in biosolids, and the analyses available to date are reassuring. At present, 100% of preliminary biosolid analysis results available to the MELCCFP are below the provisional standard proposed by the federal government.
To learn more about the issues related to fluorinated compounds from the PFAS family, consult the government references:
First, we ensure that they comply with the quality standards established by the government (pathogens, heavy metals, various contaminants) and we determine their agronomic qualities.
Each field and crop is unique, the appropriate materials are chosen and two agronomists with different roles give their professional opinions.
In particular, we ensure that they are not spread near waterways or drinking water sources, just as with liquid manure.
Consult the map prepared by the Government of British Columbia providing an overview of the situation for 23 jurisdictions around the world.
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