Tricentris

What Tricentris does

Tricentris, la coop is a Quebec-based cooperative founded in 1996 that operates in recycling, sustainable waste management, and environmental education. The cooperative processes approximately 25% of all recyclable materials in the province of Quebec and serves a membership of 200+ municipalities representing roughly 2 million residents, with services spanning sorting-center operations, bin-quality inspection (Brigade des bacs), mobile repair-café trailers, school workshops, mascot and kiosk programs, and the registered-trademark Coach du bac® advisory service. Since 2013, Tricentris has operated a glass micronization plant that transforms collected glass into value-added products: ARROX abrasifs (recycled-glass blasting media), ARROX filtration sand (pool and water treatment), Paillis de verre (landscaping mulch), and micronized glass filler for industrial applications.

Tricentris' revenue model is membership-based: Quebec municipalities join the cooperative and receive core education and sorting support services (with at least one flagship service, Coach du bac®, offered free of charge to members), supplemented by industrial offtake contracts. The most significant commercial relationship is a March 2019 strategic alliance with RV² Technologies, a subsidiary of Groupe SiliCycle, under which Tricentris supplies 30,000 tonnes of glass powder per year over a 20-year period valued at $100M CAD, enabling upcycling of more than 25% of Quebec's selective-collection glass into precipitated silica and other high-value chemical products. In July 2025, Tricentris extended its service footprint through a partnership with RIADM to establish and operate a new regional ecocenter under a five-year management contract. The cooperative is governed by its municipal members, is led by President Carl Péloquin (also Mayor of Lachute), and is headquartered at 651 chemin Félix-Touchette in Lachute, Quebec, with a workforce in the 251-500 employee band.

Name

Tricentris

Legal name

Tricentris, la coop

Website

https://tricentris.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Tricentris is a Quebec-based cooperative that processes roughly 25% of the province's recyclable materials and serves 200+ member municipalities with sorting services, environmental education, and value-added recycled glass products such as abrasives and filtration media.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Recycling and Waste Management Services

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (56292), Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers (423930), Glass and Glass Product Manufacturing (3272)

SIC

Sanitary Services (4950), Glass Products, Made Of Purchased Glass (3231)

akta.pro primary industry

Single-Stream MRFs (Residential Curbside) (EUAIADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Glass Processing & Beneficiation Facilities (EUAIADAF), Reuse & Resale / Recommerce Operations (EUAIANAC), Recyclables Transfer & Consolidation (Single/Source-Separated) (BPALABAD), On-site Recycling Programs (Single-Stream, Source-Separated) (BPABALAB)

Keywords

• Municipal recycling services
• Circular economy management
• Glass micronization processing
• Environmental education programs
• Recycled glass products

Headquarters

HQ city

Lachute

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Municipal Membership and Service Fees: Tricentris operates as a cooperative serving Quebec municipalities, processing recyclable materials and providing environmental education services. Revenue is generated through membership fees and service contracts with municipal members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Tricentris is a Quebec member-municipality cooperative that sorts and processes recyclable materials (approximately 25% of the province's recyclables) and transforms recovered glass through its micronization plant into branded products such as ARROX abrasives, ARROX filtration sand, and glass mulch. The cooperative also delivers environmental education, awareness, and source-sorting support services to member municipalities through initiatives such as Coach du bac, Brigade des bacs, school workshops, kiosks, and a community repair-café trailer.

Product overview

Tricentris is a cooperative organization that has been a key player in sustainable development and circular economy in Quebec since 1996. The organization operates as a multi-service platform offering both recycling/waste management services and manufactured recycled glass products. Member services include educational and community-focused offerings such as the Coach du bac® consultation service, mobile repair trailers (Remorque de réparation), bin inspection services (Brigade des bacs), educational kiosks, school workshops, theater productions (Récup et Dragon), and the S'investir financing program. Tricentris also manufactures and sells recycled glass products including ARROX Abrasifs (abrasives), ARROX Filtration (filtration media), and Paillis de verre (glass mulch). The cooperative processes approximately 25% of Quebec's recyclable materials through its sorting centers, with glass processed at its micronization facility since 2013.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ARROX Abrasifs: 100% recycled glass abrasive products used for sandblasting and surface treatment applications.
• ARROX Filtration
• Paillis de verre
• Coach du bac®
• Tricentris Express
• Verre Recyclé (Recycled Glass product line)

Products and services

• ARROX Abrasifs 100% recycled glass abrasives for sandblasting and jet cleaning. Contains less than 1% free silica, is non-metallic and non-toxic, and is sold in granulometries 10-20, 16-30, 20-40, and 30-70 to industrial buyers of blasting media.
• ARROX Filtration Recycled glass filtration sand for pool, wastewater, and drinking-water facilities; provides superior filtration versus regular sand with 50% fewer backwash cycles and reduced chemical consumption.
• Paillis de verre (Glass Mulch) Ground recycled-glass mulch in a pale green pistachio coloration for flower beds, pathways, and gaps between slabs; reduces fire risk, deters crawling insects, and is non-toxic.
• Recycled Glass Filler Materials Micronized recycled glass sold as filler material for industrial products such as rubbers, plastics, adhesives, and sealants.
• Coach du bac® Expert consultation service that demystifies proper sorting practices using the 3RV concept, available via conference, animation, kiosk, or informal exchange; offered free of charge to Tricentris member municipalities and delivered by team members acting as coaches.
• Brigade des bacs Curbside bin inspection service that analyzes the contents of municipal recycling bins directly at the curb, performed by the same personnel who process the materials after collection, to improve source-sorting accuracy and reduce contamination.
• Kiosque Tricentris Mobile educational kiosk service deployed at municipal environmental events to engage citizens in a sorting game covering waste, compost, recovery, ecocentre, and reuse streams.
• Remorque de réparation Mobile repair trailer inspired by the repair-café concept that travels between municipalities, providing a friendly learning space for citizens to repair objects and promoting reuse.
• Ateliers scolaires School workshop programs for students focused on waste reduction, reuse, and recycling education, aligned with Tricentris' 3R principle.
• Récup et Dragon Theater play for children aged 8 to 10 that uses an adventure story to teach recovery and the 3R principle (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).
• Remorque Tricentris Borrowable mobile recycling station provided to member municipalities for public events and citizen gatherings to ensure a recycling collection option is available.
• Programme S'investir Financing program that supports sustainable community projects in member municipalities, with documented contributions toward inclusive beach projects such as in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25% of Quebec's recyclable materials processed
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• RV² Technologies (Subsidiary of Groupe SiliCycle)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2019Strategic alliance for glass transformation announced March 25, 2019. Tricentris supplies 30,000 tonnes of glass powder annually to RV² Technologies over a 20-year period valued at $100 million CAD. This partnership enables upcycling of glass into precipitated silica and high-value chemical products, representing one of the largest glass contracts in Quebec history. The alliance allows recycling of over 25% of all glass from Quebec's selective collection.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tricentris