Montreal recently had a new slogan: “French-speaking metropolis of America”. But another slogan would fit just as well: “Montreal, Metropolis of Garbage”…
Posted at 7:15 p.m
A walk through the streets of the central districts is enough to convince the skeptics: torn garbage bags, chicken carcasses and other table scraps lying on the street, old socks with holes, greasy paper, handkerchiefs rolled into a ball. Every day the pedestrian is exposed to the contents of the garbage bag of his contemporary. And it’s anything but a croquignolet, to use one of Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault’s favorite words.
To the garbage bags that line the sidewalks, we must add the mattresses, furniture, and other small appliances that our roadside neighbors leave behind.
Why go to the eco center when you can throw everything at home… it’s so much easier!
And what about cigarette butts, which would make up 30% of litter in Montreal?
On Thursday, our colleague Isabelle Ducas reported on our pages1 about the deplorable state of the roads around McGill University: Students returning home are emptying their apartments, leaving most of their belongings on the sidewalk. The situation repeats itself every year without the city finding a solution! That’s not serious !
Remember that Quebecers are the fools of the country’s waste management with 716 kg of waste per capita in 2021, a 5% increase from 2018.
We can say that Montreal is a beautiful showcase that highlights exactly this specificity of Quebec. No wonder author Claude Meunier decided to bring back his character of Pôpa from La Petite Vie. We have an existential problem with our garbage.
But it is not the solutions that are missing to discipline the population.
Starting with making households pay for the waste they produce. This idea, defended by many, including Professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau, is already being used in Beaconsfield, as well as in several cities around the world.
A waste tax can take several forms: an annual tax based on household size, a tax based on the weight of waste generated, or, as in some cities, the distribution of X bags of rubbish after which the other bags are paid for. In all cases, low-income households benefit from an exemption or special measures.
This tax would result in individuals being made aware of their uncontrolled waste production and forced them to compost, recycle and… produce less waste.
Then there’s the way we’ll collect garbage that no longer holds water in 2023.
As Montreal Centre-ville organization executive director Glenn Castanheira once said, Montreal’s waste management is worthy of the Middle Ages…
It’s high time plastic bins were made compulsory for all single family homes and ground floor condos.
Garbage dumps should also be set up in neighborhoods to prevent garbage bags from appearing on the sidewalks several days before collection.
And to prevent garbage bags from piling up around these potential landfill sites, there are no 36,000 solutions: better surveillance is needed, accompanied by severe fines, to deter offenders.
Same treatment for Montreal dog owners who are worse off than Parisians. Those who don’t pick up their pooch’s poop deserve a hefty fine.
After all, a little courtesy wouldn’t hurt anyone. If each of us were to take care of the small piece of pavement in front of our door, that would be a giant step.
The Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM), which brings together 82 municipalities, completed its public consultation on waste management a month ago. A report must be submitted by the end of the month, and if Recyc-Québec gives the green light, the Metropolitan Residual Materials Management Plan (PMGMR) 2024-2031 will go into effect.
But the solutions contained in this plan are still very tentative.
You have to have the courage to use the strong method if Montreal is not to become the “capital of the garbage bags”.