Garbage collection: once a week instead of twice

Effective October 20, household garbage will be collected only once a week along with the usual collection of residual waste. Moreover, there will only be one collection per month of huge household objects and furniture – so let this serve as a notice to people who are planning to get rid of mattresses or old sofas.

Verdun is divided into four areas; one garbage collection day will be assigned to each of these areas. The weekly collection of garbage and of residual waste will take place on the same day.

For L’Île-des-Soeurs and Crawford-Park, collection will take place on Mondays. In sector two (the area from May Street to de l'Église Street), the collection will be done on Tuesdays; in sector three (the area between Galt Street and Desmarchais Boulevard), the collection will be done on Wednesdays while sector four (area from Melrose Street to Stephens Street inclusively), the collection will be done on Thursdays. Huge household objects and furniture will be collected as follows: first Friday of the month for sector one, second Friday of the Monday for sector two, third Friday of the month for sector three and fourth Friday of the month for sector four. Residents are entitled to a maximum of five household objects and furniture for the city to pick up.

Depending on the residential area you live in, you must use either plastic bags or bins. The Borough decided to use the blue bin on wheels for recyclable materials and the black bin on wheels for household garbage in sector one (Crawford-Park and Île-des-Soeurs). The type of housing units in this sector allows for the efficient use of bins. For buildings with nine units and more, the practice of using bins will continue, regardless of the area. The same applies for sectors two, three and four – these sectors will maintain the use of bags because of the large number of inhabitants and the narrow spaces for handling and piling.

The bins on wheels with a handle and a cover will be distributed for free door-to-door between September 22 and October 17 by the company that was awarded the contract for the collection of residual material. Be careful, however, if you ever lose or misplace your bin. You will have to replace it with a new one at a cost of about $70.00 per bin. The bins will have the civic address printed on it and they usually last at least 10 years. “What gets broken first are the hinges of the cover and the wheels which are certainly replaceable”, said Dany Tremblay of Verdun’s Urban Department. An information kit will come with each bin. The blue bin for recycling is larger than the black bin – this is to encourage residents to reduce their non-recyclable garbage to a minimum. While the bins are distributed for free, you will need to purchase blue and black bags yourself.

Residents should comply with a strict schedule for putting out their garbage. This will please citizen Eric Hill who often reports at Council meetings about the long pile of garbage on sidewalks, especially in the summer. From now on, the garbage should be put out between 5h and 8h on collection day. So for those of you who wake up late in the morning, take note! Mayor Claude Trudel acknowledged that “this measure will inconvenience some residents who have special schedules” but he said that the Borough must be rigorous in applying this rule to avoid abuse. After a transition period and the issuing of warning tickets, violation notices will be sent to those who are delinquent.

Business owners already participate in recycling efforts by putting together all packaging cartons that are collected two times a week. The collection will be done on Tuesdays, between 19h and 21h, and on Thursdays, between 19h and 23h on the following business streets: Wellington, de l'Église, Verdun and Bannantyne on the mainland, and Place du Commerce and chemin du Golf at L'Île-des-Soeurs.

This major development aims for a 60% recovery of residual matter as announced by the Quebec government’s "Politique québécoise de gestion des matières résiduelles 1998-2008" (Quebec’s Policy on the management of residual waste for the period 1998-2008). Mayor Claude Trudel confirms that it will cost 12% more in the short term but a savings of between 50% and 100% of expenses can be realised by reducing the frequency of garbage collection to once a week, savings that match the substantial increase in the amount of recyclable matter. In everyone’s opinion, a once-a-week collection would encourage residents to recycle their garbage. Moreover, if there is garbage in excess of the fixed limit, there will be a penalty of $10.62 per ton; in exchange, Recyc-Québec will return the funds collected to Boroughs that reach or go beyond the objective.

Municipal Councillor and also President of the Environmental Commission Ginette Marotte is appealing to the civic-mindedness of residents: “We are asking all of our residents to act in a responsible manner so that the quantity of garbage sent to the garbage dump sites is reduced.”