Montreal east end borough makes bi-weekly trash collection permanent

Updated Jan. 25, 2023: Once-every-two-weeks garbage collection officially came into effect Wednesday. 

Spacing out garbage collection is one New Year's resolution Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve has made to fight the climate crisis, says the Montreal borough's mayor.

As of 2023, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve will gradually replace its weekly trash collection across its sector with a bi-weekly schedule.

The decision comes on the heels of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15), where negotiators adopted the Kunming-Montreal framework to protect biodiversity, in part by reducing waste.

"Nobody is really excited about [the schedule change]," Pierre Lessard-Blais, borough mayor of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, said. "But most of the people understand that their landfill is going to be filled in six [years], and it's a climate crisis."

Since last February, the borough had implemented a pilot project to cut back garbage pick-ups and encourage residents to compost organic waste — an initiative Lessard-Blais called a success.

He says participation in composting in the borough rose from 36 to 55 per cent since the pilot launched.

Reducing garbage pick-up may make some people "uncomfortable," according to Lessard-Blais, but he said the climate crisis and Montreal's environmental goals leave the borough with few choices.

"Eighty-five per cent of garbage is not garbage," he said. "It's stuff we can either recycle or compost.

Lessard-Blais said the borough plans to unveil a "heavy" communication plan, including deploying inspectors who will go door to door to alert residents to the change.

Changing habits

Mélanie Bec, a Hochelaga resident who lives in a four-person household, said her family has already taken steps to reduce waste, but says she questions how feasible the project will be for residents who have small homes.

"It's easy to compost at our house because we have space in front of the garage to put the compost bin," she said. "But when you have to manage composting and the garbage, it could become complicated."

For Marlene Gagnon, another Hochelaga resident and a participant of the pilot, the change wasn't as disruptive as she thought it would be.

"You come to realize that a lot of things go into the compost that you wouldn't think of," Gagnon said. "It's up to everyone to do their part to have a green planet."

"I probably would have taken out my garbage every two weeks anyway," she said. 

The borough is taking its cue from other cities, including Longueuil, Vancouver and Toronto, which have implemented similar measures.