Nauseous odors and stench: At the start of summer, many Montrealers are concerned about waste piling up in some areas with bi-weekly collections.
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“[Sur plusieurs coins de rue], it is full of waste,” Mikhael Roussin, a resident of the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, told LCN. According to him, the abundance started last winter, which was not very serious. However, with the arrival of June, it would have become “disgusting”.
Michael mentions the groupies on his balcony: “It’s unsanitary, it’s unacceptable, it’s unlivable in this weather, we don’t go out and sit,” he denounces.
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After carrying out a pilot project in 2022 with garbage collection intervals, the city gradually expanded its scale. From one department to another, it is planned to be used across the district by the end of 2024.
The main goal is to encourage people to recycle and compost.
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Recycling and composting continue every week, but two-thirds of the borough’s trash cans are picked up every two weeks, said Pierre Lessard-Blais, mayor of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
“What we’re realizing is that of all Montrealers who have access to composting, two-thirds of Montrealers don’t compost. [a] Reached the threshold of awareness,” he said.
Mr. According to Lessard-Blais, 50% of the contents of garbage cans are composted.
However, the move is not clear to many, a community organization is now planning waste collections on streets and parks.
“It’s not about replacing municipal services, we don’t have the funds for that, we’re not garbage collectors. […]But to show that people are willing to do their part and that the municipality should listen to the citizens a little more,” noted Kim Gravel, a volunteer of La Ligue 33 organization.
At the time of writing these lines, waste collection is only carried out in the boroughs of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Saint-Laurent.
