Cities confused by composting cash

The government of Quebec offered to front $500 million to help municipalities fund composting centres in its provincial budget two weeks ago, but demerged West Island municipalities do not know what to do with it yet.

"This is all under discussion right now," said Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau, who sits on the Montreal agglomeration council's Environment, Transport and Infrastructure Commission.

Rouleau revealed the commission has come up with a preliminary plan that would involve three composting centres on the Island of Montreal: one in the west, another in the centre, and another in the east, but he would not divulge specifics.

"I think it's a little too early to talk about that," he said.

Like all West Island municipalities besides Pointe Claire, Dorval does not collect organic waste from its citizens to carry it away, but Rouleau estimated about 10 per cent of residents compost in their own homes.

Quebec had set a goal demanding all municipalities recycle or compost 60 per cent of their organic waste by 2008, but accorded an extension when it became clear cities would not be able to meet that goal.

"It's a couple of years (of delay)," Rouleau said, "which we don't think we're going to meet anyway."

Pointe Claire Mayor Bill McMurchie called the existing plan "a work in progress," stating some municipalities might prefer to each have a composting centre located close by.

Whereas finances for the composting centres themselves are the agglomeration's responsibility, pick-up and transport are to be provided by each municipality.

Pointe Claire paid about $340,000 for its composting program last year, McMurchie said. The municipality provided 1,100 bins for residents, collected them and took them to the St. Michel recycling and composting facility, the only one of its kind in Montreal.

"Our composting program was limited by the ability of the facility in Montreal to recycle," McMurchie said.

Neighbouring Beaconsfield currently encourages local composting. The city sold nearly 300 composters to interested citizens last year, Mayor Bob Benedetti said.

"It's an agglomeration responsibility and it's not something we want to go do on our own," he said.

Chronicle, file photo