- It is a non-profit worker cooperative located in Montreal (Canada)
- This is a drop-off point for recyclable items or materials: see the list of accepted items.
- It’s a store selling used goods , hardware, and spare parts: see the inventory
- It’s a welding workshop
- It’s a service for collecting , recycling, and decluttering various items.
Our mission is to divert objects and devices of all kinds from landfill sites in the Greater Montreal area through reuse, recycling, repair or repurposing.
Who is RECYBORG?
- The Recyborg project was born in 2021 thanks to the 5 founding members and is based in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal.
- In 2022, Recyborg became a worker cooperative and set up a second space in Building 7.
- By 2025, the cooperative has 16 members, each with their own specialties and energy.
The cooperative's main activities
Drop-off point service
6 days a week, workers at Recyborg’s 2 locations receive goods of all kinds so that they can be put back into circulation or sent to the correct recycling channel.
Truck collection service
The cooperative’s logistics committee offers a collection service to individuals, businesses or organizations.
This service may be free or paid depending on its nature, quantity, distance and difficulty.
Welding services
The welders at the co-op fabricate items from reclaimed metals, which are added to our inventory, and accept various fabrication and repair contracts.
Dismantling and parts extraction
The dismantling committee is responsible for workshop work such as extracting useful parts and components from non-functional devices, as well as separating the different types of metals to be recycled.
What we do with all thoses objects
Every item that passes through our hands is sorted according to the 3RV principle (reduce, reuse, recycle and recover).
REUSE
In figures
- 79% of our operating revenues (2024-2025)
- 2.7 tonnes / month (2025)
Items in inventory
- Devices (audio-video equipment, small household appliances, etc.)
- components (spare parts for household appliances or other)
- and certain materials (mainly metal, but also plexiglass and renovation materials)
Bulk
- Hardware and plumbing
- Power supply, adapter and wiring
- Screens and monitors
- Remote controls
- Hand and power tools
- Metal and wood materials (Pointe-Saint-Charles location only)
RECYCLING
All equipment that cannot be put back into circulation or resold in its current condition is sent to a recycler or recycling program.
Metal recycling
Scrap metal and irreparable appliances, or those emptied of their useful components, are sold to recycling companies:
- Acier Century (ferrous metals) www.aciercentury.com
- Métaux OnSite (non-ferrous metals) www.metauxsursite.com
Recycling of electronic products
- The various audio, video and computer devices are inspected to determine their condition.
- Items that are functional and do not contain personal data are added to our inventory.
- The remainder is sent to a recycling company overseen by the Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA), which is funded by eco-fees paid on new products.
Battery and E-cigarette Recycling
- New or good-condition batteries are added to our inventory
- Lithium battery cells are added to our inventory for remanufacturing projects
- Lead-acid batteries (rectangular, black, typically 12V) are sold to metal recyclers
- All other batteries and e-cigarettes are sent to the Call2Recycle program at appelarecycler.ca
Recycling of refrigeration appliances
Refrigerators, air conditioners, dehumidifiers and water dispensers are sent to the organization GoRecycle which manages their recycling, including the gases and insulating foams they contain.
Cooking Oil Recycling
Used vegetable frying oils deposited at our locations or collected during our pickups are sold to the company Darling Ingredients which uses them to produce biodiesel.They talked about us
Radio-Canada’s evening news program visited our facilities as part of a report on electronics in Quebec at the end of 2025.
(You can find our segment at 10:30 in the video.)
The TV5 program “Espèces d’ordures” which focuses on unique initiatives around the world came to visit us in 2025 to highlight and promote our local initiative.
The media outlet 24 heures visited Recyborg in 2025 to produce a report entitled “The co-op that recycled more than 100 tons of objects in five years”. They documented our processes.
In 2024, Concordia’s student newspaper focused on Recyborg and demonstrated how our Montreal cooperative is fighting consumerism by creating a better waste management system. (English version only)
A zine called Salvaging, published in 2023, documented Recyborg’s practices, situating our work within a broader movement of material reappropriation and entrepreneurship. (English version only)
In 2023, Est Média Montréal examined Recyborg’s contribution to the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve community, and then to Pointe Saint-Charles, thanks to its stores which serve as relays to ecocentres in these neighbourhoods.
In 2022, our support group, PME Montréal, published an article to present our mission and services to its members.
Hélène from the podcast “Hélène et les déchets” visited us in 2022, in our store, to better understand our processes and what happens to the materials deposited at Recyborg.
First media intervention in 2021, during the beginnings of Recyborg at TCFTV, the community television station in Montreal.
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