Will this Quebec-made machine mean the end of plastic washer fluid jugs?

Have you ever struggled to pour one of those clunky four-liter jugs of windshield washer fluid into the reservoir under your hood?

A Quebec inventor believes he has the solution to your woes.

“This is an automatic dispenser for windshield washer fluid,” said Pierre Neron in front of his Station Lave-Glace in the underground parking lot of Complexe Desjardins in Montreal.

Neron says Quebecers go through 25 million plastic jugs of washer fluid every year. He says the Station Lave-Glace will help eliminate plastic waste and annoying spillage.

“We’re eliminating the spillage around the reservoir and basically eliminating the plastic bottle,” he told Global News.

The station is designed to work just like a gas pump. You preauthorize an amount, grab the nozzle and put it directly in your windshield washer fluid reservoir. Neron also says the cost of the fluid ends up being cheaper than the jugs you’ll find at your local service station.

“It sounds like it would be easier and better for the environment,” said 19-year-old Marney Staviss before filling her washer fluid with a four-liter jug at a Montreal gas station.

Neron currently has 23 machines in operation in Quebec, mostly at privately owned gas stations. The one at Complexe Desjardins is the only one in Montreal.

“They should have it at every station in Canada, for sure,” said Montreal resident Alan Ghetler.

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There’s an online petition with nearly 50,000 signatures demanding the Quebec government force gas stations to install refilling stations throughout the province.

“The petroleum companies are really close to their dollars, and they don’t want to spend money to buy it,” explained Neron.

He says convincing big oil companies to purchase loads of machines that cost $9,000 to $10,000 each is not so easy, but Neron hopes the government and consumers can help.

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“If the government can make laws around the usage of one-time-usage plastic bottles, tax them or eliminate plastic bottles, then I think it’s going to be a matter of time,” he said.

A spokesperson for Petro-Canada’s parent company said it’s looking at opportunities to work in “environmentally sustainable ways,” including in relation to how the company dispenses washer fluid.

“We encourage all efforts to diminish the use of non-renewable plastics, especially when it comes from innovative homegrown businesses,” said Louis-Julien Dufresne, a spokesman for Quebec’s Environment Ministry.

“We are currently working on a global strategy for Quebec’s residual matters sector. Single-use plastics, glass and other matters will surely be part of our analysis.”

Neron believes a deal may be imminent, but until then, people will just have to live with those unwieldy jugs.