The frequency of household garbage collection will soon be reduced in two sectors of the Montreal borough of Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, which thus wishes to improve the recovery rates of recyclable and compostable materials, has learned Press.
The collection, which is currently weekly, will be done every two weeks from February 28, as part of a nine-month pilot project, after which the practice could be gradually generalized.
“We’ve come to that, testing new ways, because the ways we’ve tried in the past aren’t effective enough,” he told Press the mayor of the borough, Pierre Lessard-Blais.
Despite the efforts made by municipalities to promote recycling and composting, 85% of the materials that end up in the garbage bags of Quebec households could be recycled by another type of collection, he emphasizes.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE
Pierre Lessard-Blais, Mayor of Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
It is really dramatic, what we find in our trash cans now; there are just 15% of our trash cans that really are!
Pierre Lessard-Blais, Mayor of Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
It is urgent to act, pleads the mayor, who recalls that the only landfill of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), that of the Lachenaie sector, in Terrebonne, will reach its maximum capacity by 2029.
The climate crisis also makes it necessary to divert organic materials from landfills, where they produce methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) “25 times more problematic” than carbon dioxide (CO2), he emphasizes.
Popular method
Garbage collection every two weeks, or even more, is already a reality in many Quebec municipalities, including Longueuil, Sherbrooke, Drummondville and Gatineau, but it is slow to establish itself in Montreal.
The Borough of Saint-Laurent is one of the rare places to have adopted it, but the limit to buildings of eight units or less, while Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve will test it for all buildings served by the municipal collection, including industries, businesses and institutions (ICI).
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE
Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve will test the collection every two weeks for all buildings served by the municipal collection, including industries, businesses and institutions.
“We’re going to say it, in municipal politics, touching the trash, it’s explosive,” suggests Mayor Lessard-Blais to explain the delay in Montreal.
But he believes he received a “clear mandate” from the population, in the recent elections, to accelerate the pace in the environment.
I think there is a majority of people who expect the City to have more leadership.
Pierre Lessard-Blais, Mayor of Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
The spacing of household waste collection has proven itself elsewhere, indicates the responsible for the ecological transition in the district, Thierry Sénécal.
“In general, there is a decrease in the amount of ultimate waste and an increase in participation in other collections,” he says.
Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve also preferred this method to that of pricing by weight, considering it more efficient in the light of an experiment conducted in Drummondville.
The two methods were compared there during a pilot project carried out in 2018 and 2019; the quantity of household refuse had decreased by almost 15% in the sectors where collection had been spaced out, while it had increased by almost as much in those where a financial incentive measure had been introduced.
Two sectors
Two sectors of the Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough will be called upon to experiment with this spaced collection: one bounded by avenue Souligny, avenue de Rougemont and highway 25, and the other bounded by rue Sherbrooke. and highway 25.
These sectors were selected because they present “a varied built environment”, with apartment buildings, single-family residences and ICI, but also because the contracts of the companies which collect there expire, which allowed to establish a new frequency.
In the coming days, the households, businesses and institutions concerned will receive information from the borough concerning the terms of the pilot project; some will even receive a garbage bin, depending on their type of building.
The borough has planned “personalized” support, as well as a dedicated telephone line and e-mail box to ensure the success of its pilot project.
“Friendly and constructive interventions” will be carried out with any recalcitrant, says Mayor Lessard-Blais, who indicates that municipal regulations will apply “as a last resort”.
Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve will also provide “ecological subsidies” and responsible consumption items to stimulate participation and encourage waste reduction at source.
The pilot project is launched in winter, to give people time to change their habits before the onset of extreme heat, but households with toddlers could face a particular issue, recognizes Mayor Lessard-Blais: diapers.
“But if Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Gatineau, Longueuil, Sherbrooke are able to manage their diapers, I think Montreal is able to manage theirs! ”
57%: Percentage of Quebec household garbage bags made up of organic materials that could be recycled
Source: Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough
21%: Percentage of Quebec household garbage bags made up of recyclable materials that could be recycled
Source: Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough
7%: Percentage of Quebec household garbage bags made up of construction residues that could be recycled
Source: Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough