The award Hommage Pierre-Lachance honors a person whose achievements and commitment have contributed to the development and influence of the green economy. Mr. Paré was awarded the prize in recognition of his contribution, both in Quebec and internationally, over the past 40 years at Machinex, including more than 27 years as President and CEO of the Group.
During the event, CETEQ also presented the Envirolys Personality Award to Mr. Brian Mulroney, the 18th Prime Minister of Canada. The award was enthusiastically presented by his former colleague, Jean Charest, who served as Quebec’s minister from 2003 to 2012. Mr. Mulroney, recognized as the most environmentally committed retired minister in Canadian history, delivered a deeply moving speech to the guests. His passion for protecting the environment remains evident.
Mr. Paré is a pioneer of the recycling and waste management industry. He started at Machinex in 1983, when the company had just a dozen employees. With his innovative vision and entrepreneurial spirit, he quickly became a shareholder within the company, turning the operations from agricultural, completely toward the recycling industry in the late 1980s. Machinex became the first Canadian company to design equipment for Material Recovery Facilities (MRF).
Despite its noble roots, Machinex is currently recognized as one of the few companies worldwide with the capacity to deliver state-of-the-art, high-capacity MRFs. After developing the Quebec market early in his career, Mr. Paré went on to develop the rest of Canada, the United States, Europe and Oceania, where the majority of Machinex projects are installed.
Mr. Paré has made an invaluable contribution to the development of environmental knowledge and technologies in this sector, which benefits the entire Quebec economy and beyond.
