Pointe Claire wants your green waste

As of last week, the City of Pointe Claire has begun its green waste collection program, a pilot project that is slightly ahead of its time when compared to what other municipalities are doing, according to Mayor Bill McMurchie.

"These are strictly residential properties," he said, when talking about which of the residents in Pointe Claire received the 1,100 bins the city distributed throughout its eight different sectors.

Up to Aug. 26, the city will collect green waste once every three weeks, and once a week from September to November.

Green waste is any garden surplus or organic matter that does not include scraps from kitchen table, known as table waste.

However, even residents who did not receive one of the bins will be able to put their green waste outside their homes for collection in a bin of their own choosing, according to McMurchie.

McMurchie said this new phase in Pointe Claire's composting program is based on their pilot project last year. "The results are quite favourable," he said.

Only one composting centre exists on the Island of Montreal. The St. Michel recycling facility is giving Pointe Claire permission to take its organic waste to the site. However, nobody on the island has figured out how to get rid of table waste yet.

Meanwhile, Dorval mayor Edgar Rouleau said his city is still in the midst of observing what is going on with its neighbours before enacting any plans. "Everybody's sort of exchanging ideas," he said.

While the city does not collect organic waste from citizens to carry it away, Rouleau said Dorval residents are actively encouraged to compost in their own homes. He estimated about 10 per cent of Dorval residents engage in composting.

Over at Beaconsfield, mayor Bob Benedetti said the city's environmental committee is actively looking into a composting program. For now, like Dorval, Beaconsfield encourages local composting. "We sold nearly 300 composters," Benedetti said.

However, having a system that would include transportation, pick-up and processing is too prohibitive for now. "Until we have the proper way to do this, it's expensive," he said.

Benedetti added the key to having a good composting project lies in convincing Montreal's agglomeration council to develop a regional program.

According to McMurchie, Pointe Claire's composting program costs the city about $340,000.

Quebec provincial norms ask municipalities to recycle 60 per cent of its organic waste by 2008. "It's a goal desirable of attainment," McMurchie said, but he doubted that would happen this year or the next.