Bi-Weekly Garbage Collection?

GrumpyCanadian · 2025-08-08T05:37:32+00:00

In all their wisdom, it seems that Montreal wants to force bi-weekly garbage collection on us. So far, it’s not quite clear if that means that recycling and organic waste pick-up will also switch to bi-weekly collection, but many are not thrilled with the idea. Personally, I think the idea stinks (literally!). In some boroughs, where this is already in place, there are complaints about rats, the stench and the mess. I know that some other major Canadian cities have been dealing with this for years. So, what are your experiences? Toronto is apparently among the cities that have done this. Toronto is also said to have a rat problem. Could there be some connection? I am sure that this won’t be without problems. For one thing, pet waste does not qualify as compostable organic waste. That means that some residents will have turds, etc. in their garbage, baking in the sun for two weeks and producing a lovely distinctive odour. My specific problem is that the “brown bins” (for organic waste) don’t close securely enough. A few times, I had documented evidence of a critter getting in, making the bin fall over and leaving things strewn on the walkway. In a few cases, this led to a bin that was subsequently full of maggots and flies by collection day. They need a better locking mechanism. Also, if organic waste will be moved to bi-weekly pick-up, they will need to issue larger bins. Then, as the article points out, the majority of people in Montreal are not using the brown bins. A quick look around my area the night before the collection suggests that this is true. Clearly, if, as Ms. Mauger said, people “want to do more to be part of the solution”, they would make the effort to use those bins. In my area, we have had them since Denis Coderre was in (municipal) office. People have had ample time to start composting, if they were so inclined. The fact that they still aren’t doing it suggests that they don’t intend to, and that she is at least a little delusional. With an election in the not-too-distant future, there are some key questions: will Projet Montréal still be running the show? Will Mauger still be around? Will their potential replacements still press ahead with the changes? Montreal faces pushback over biweekly trash collection

GrumpyCanadian

Somewhat-Reticent Coffee grounds, whether on top or anywhere else, don’t do anything to keep them out. When they get in and start tearing through the contents, the only result is that there is coffee scattered on the pavement.

I will try the cold remedy first, and maybe the orange oil spray, if the first attempt doesn’t work.

GrumpyCanadian

Donoreo Our instructions specifically said not to put pet waste of any kind in the organics bin, even though everything other than plastic doggie-business bags are compostable, though I’m not so sure about clay cat litter (sometimes with additives).

Diapers and feminine products will never break down quickly enough to be considered compostable, unless they are specifically made to be so (even then, I have my doubts; just like the “compostable” non-plastic forks used at some fast-food places).

In Montreal, they are encouraging residents to switch to re-usable diapers and (washable?) feminine products, even offering subsidies toward their purchase. I’d be surprised if they have very many people take advantage of that programme.

There is a large Sikh family nearby that puts out a mound of garbage every week. I’m not even sure where they would store two weeks’ worth of trash.

taraf

GrumpyCanadian Our instructions specifically said not to put pet waste of any kind in the organics bin, even though everything other than plastic doggie-business bags are compostable, though I’m not so sure about clay cat litter (sometimes with additives).

Ours used to. But Ottawa updated the rules a few years ago to say that we could put pet waste in them, as long as it didn’t exceed a certain percentage of the contents of the bin. I doubt they’re even checking, and that it’s more about not asking the people driving the route to repeatedly pick up 46L of used cat litter. I think they also accept diapers, but as we don’t have kids I haven’t looked into it. And both my partner and myself were using reusable feminine products before we met each other more than a decade ago.

GrumpyCanadian There is a large Sikh family nearby that puts out a mound of garbage every week. I’m not even sure where they would store two weeks’ worth of trash.

We have neighbours who do the same. I have no idea how they produce that much garbage - even back (mumble) decades ago when I was a kidlet and before my parents got on the environmentalist bandwagon we had a hard time filling more than 1 big garbage bag a week. These days I’m putting out a half full 49L bag every 2 weeks. But they’re going to have to stop - starting in September the city simply won’t pick up more than 3 bags of garbage, and they’re talking about moving to a prepaid tag system where they simply won’t pick up a bag with no tag.

Pulsar

The idea is that you put all the organic matter in the compost bin, which should be picked up weekly, and anything else that doesn’t belong in the recycling bin goes in the trash. It should be minimal.
In Gatineau it was a mess at first because they stopped picking up larger items, so people just dumped them all over the place. A simple fix that took years to resolve (just call when you have larger items and they’ll pick them, or a few times a year on the calendar).

If they don’t pick up organic matter weekly it won’t work, maybe in the Winter, but definitely not when temperatures stay above freezing.

GreenEnvy22

Donoreo
We do have green bin and we use it, plus a composter. But with 5 of us in house we’re not as consistent as we should be, especially when the kids are cleaning up meals.

Thane_Bitter

GrumpyCanadian We had a rotating 11 day cycle and now have it ever 14 days. No issues really, just some minor hickups. What helped was the city FINALLY!!!! set up a green bin program. To be clear every week the blue and green bins are picked up, every other week garbage gets picked up in addition to the others.

Pet waste, diapers are not allowed in the green bins.
Green bin takes food wastes, paper, fats, oil, some paper. * (in a paper cup that can be got from city hall, the dump, envirocentres, and libraries).
Blue bin is actually two, one for paper/cardboard, the other one for glass, plastic, metals and tetra containers.
Trash (limited to three bags/containers up to a certain weight) - no special bin is required, you could put it out as bags or in a bin.

Overall it’s been ok, the racoons did get into the green bin (knocked it over and popped the lid) which led to an outbreak of maggots for that week which did require a rinse with the hose once it was finally picked up by the city. IMHO the design of the bin sucks, empty just opening the lid will make it flop over and its top heavy too. To keep the racoons at bay I back it up to the side of the house and have a little clip that it locks into which means you have to lift it up every so slightly to get it to disconnect - the racoons have not figured this out and can’t pop the lock open when the bin is upright.

I do use liners for the green bin (both indoor sink collector and the larger outdoor one which helps keep it clean and not smelling bad.

Our green stuff is transported to the South end of the city and loaded into steel tubes which are first heated to get the process going and the rest of the energy comes from the waste itself.

Astyanax

Donoreo It works fine: garbage and organics one week, recycling and organics the next. Food waste, the organics, is every week.

OMG. We have garbage twice a week and recycling (if you bother with it) and yard waste on the same day once a week.

GrumpyCanadian

taraf Ours used to. But Ottawa updated the rules a few years ago to say that we could put pet waste in them, as long as it didn’t exceed a certain percentage of the contents of the bin.

Out of curiosity, I just checked again; no change. We are still not supposed to put any sort of pet waste, feminine products or personal/baby/cleaning wipes, nor diapers/their contents in the compost-collection bins. So cat litter still belongs in the plain old garbage. When we had more cats, even with weekly collection, the scent in the summer could best be described as ammonia explosion + turds after it baked in the sun for a while. Stand anywhere within two metres of the bin, and you had a good idea of what was in there rather quickly. If the bi-weekly schedule goes ahead, things could get unpleasant in the summer.

taraf We have neighbours who do the same. I have no idea how they produce that much garbage

When I say large family, I mean large; preparing for one outing, I saw nine people stuff themselves into a VW Atlas, and at least two cars worth of others were not even home. What is in all of those garbage bags, I have no idea. They don’t compost, and don’t plant a garden, so everything that doesn’t recycle is in there. Their recycling bin is also over-flowing every week (the older municipally-issued bins we have are the 320L size).

When Coderre was mayor, there was some talk of bringing in weight restrictions, city-issued, approved garbage bags or tags to help control the amount of garbage. He also floated the idea of making composting collection mandatory, with fines for non-compliance. So far, none of those have survived the election he lost, though I have a feeling that, like Schwarzenegger, they’ll be back. In such an eventuality, I have no idea what those neighbours will do with all of their garbage. It might be “fair” if they base the number of bags or tags issued on the number of registered occupants in the building.

InternetJeff

Astyanax OMG. We have garbage twice a week

Same here. Some time ago they did way with recyclables, and everything goes into one container now. It’s all single stream refuse, and sorted/processed by automation downstream.

markuswarren

Halton region has been bi-weekly for garbage for quite some time. It’s every week for blue box / bag and green bin. I cannot remember about other stuff, but they have a rather good website: https://www.halton.ca/For-Residents/Recycling-Waste/Curbside-Collection

It has a nice little interface to help you figure out what items should go in what container / bag / bin.

There’s also a calendar you can subscribe to so you know what is getting collected and when and it’s very useful.

It’s three black bags max for garbage, unless you have purchased orange tags which you can affix to the extra bags. Blue box / bag is every week, max 85 liters. and specific width, length and height for stuff, eg cardboard boxes (I don’t mind cutting up boxes, a fairly god stress reliever)

I think there are also exceptions / increases to the limits post xmas.

We’re fairly close to the local waste facility (15 min drive I think) so some things can be taken there. They have a re-use depot there, and I’ve dropped off stuff like jeans that are now too big for me, and an old working computer, and they will, if they meet their standards sell them onwards.

GrumpyCanadian

With an election mere months away, it looks like some are looking to preserve their jobs, rather than forcibly implement party policy just to say they did. After their main municipal opposition promised some concessions on the new garbage collection policy, Projet Montréal is making a similar commitment in one borough in which the policy was already in full force.

Even in other areas, people here have been known to dump their household garbage in (or near) roadside garbage cans, even on days when garbage is not scheduled to be collected. In areas where the reduced collection schedule has already been introduced, there were even reports of people dumping their garbage on private property owned by others (or on adjacent municipal easements).

Projet Montréal backtracks on biweekly trash pickup in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve during summer months

InternetJeff

As a curious passerby, it occurs to me to wonder if a reduction in municipal services ever is paired with a corresponding reduction in taxes or fees connected with the services that may be reduced.

urbanriot

GrumpyCanadian Even in other areas, people here have been known to dump their household garbage in (or near) roadside garbage cans, even on days when garbage is not scheduled to be collected

I’ve done this, leaving my garbage at the end of the driveway on the off-week because I’d rather the critters tear it up by the road than by the house. I had the bylaw folks called on me for this but by the time they showed up it was garbage day and we laughed.

GrumpyCanadian In areas where the reduced collection schedule has already been introduced, there were even reports of people dumping their garbage on private property owned by others (or on adjacent municipal easements).

I’ve heard rumours of folks doing this on the properties of the politicians who voted for this in our neck of the woods. It allegedly continues to this day and they have yet to catch the culprits. They left garbage bags at city hall a few times too, or so I’ve heard.

InternetJeff it occurs to me to wonder if a reduction in municipal services ever is paired with a corresponding reduction in taxes or fees connected with the services that may be reduced.

Taxes went up here.

GrumpyCanadian

InternetJeff Surely you jest! They never skip an opportunity to increase fees here. In one of the previous election cycles, after campaigning on “no increases in municipal taxes” and winning, the mayor acted like we should have been grateful that the increase was “no higher than the rate of inflation”. Does that tell you something?

g121

urbanriot I’ve done this, leaving my garbage at the end of the driveway on the off-week because I’d rather the critters tear it up by the road than by the house

a smart guy like you could surely figure out a different solution than having garbage strewn around the street .. neighbours don’t appreciate “dick moves” ..

Dks01

urbanriot Taxes went up here.

Correlation is not causation. You need to prove the connection (I’ll bet it doesn’t exist given the percentage of waste collection as a portion of the overall municipal budget) between waste management costs and the tax levy, accounting for any changes in the tax ratio to make that statement.

urbanriot

Dks01 Correlation is not causation. You need to prove the connection

Wrong, I don’t need to prove anything, I never relayed a correlation or a causation. I simply said taxes went up.

urbanriot

g121 a smart guy like you could surely figure out a different solution than having garbage strewn around the street .. neighbours don’t appreciate “dick moves” ..

Yea, that was my smart guy solution, it’s called a protest. The majority of our region actually voted against this change and the government did it anyhow. It’s why a lot of people leave their garbage out until its picked up.

Dks01

urbanriot I simply said taxes went up.

Which is an totally empty statement. At best, an opinion. You provide no evidence, no proof and no understanding of how your taxes are calculated. Your taxes may have gone up. I would not dispute that, at all. But it is unrelated to your garbage going from once a week pickup to once every two weeks pickup.

Dks01

urbanriot that was my smart guy solution, it’s called a protest.

Which is about as useless as blowing into a hurricane. At best you get a bylaw ticket. At worst your municipality will let you all stew in your own juices and garbage stink. We also don’t have referenda on garbage pickup in Canada. People may not like it, but they can’t vote for or against it. It’s an operational decision.

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