Latest news with #zeroWaste
CBC
02-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Montreal's move to biweekly trash pick up proving to be a slow process
Social Sharing The garbage may be piling up and causing some disgruntlement on the sidewalks of a few Montreal streets, but municipal officials say it's all part of a plan to become a zero-waste city by the year 2030. And they say their plan is working. "People are making progress in their thinking, realizing that when they participate in the recycling collection, the organic waste collection, that there is not much waste left," Marie-Andrée Mauger said. As a member of the city's executive committee in charge of ecological transition in Mayor Valérie Plante's Projet Montréal party, Mauger is the point person overseeing a switch that has reduced the frequency of garbage collection in some neighbourhoods to a biweekly pickup. Three boroughs — Saint-Laurent, Verdun and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve — have started implementing the plan, which is also a part of Plante's pledge to "make Montreal the greenest city in North America." But residents in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve are not thrilled with the stench. Jonathan Haiun, a spokesman for Ligue 33, a community group in eastern Montreal that advocates for quality of life issues, said spacing out the collection hasn't had the desired effect since it was brought in late last year. "The problem seems to be some people who just aren't composting or at least not doing it properly, and then a lot of the stuff that we do find in the garbage is just a mix of everything," Haiun said. "What we have been asking for since the beginning is that they go back to collecting garbage every week because we don't feel that that's actually an ecological measure." According to most recent survey results conducted for the city and obtained by Ensemble Montréal, the opposition party at city hall, some 54 per cent of residents polled consider switching to trash pickup every two weeks "unacceptable." Meanwhile, other major Canadian cities have had biweekly pickup for years: Toronto since 2008, Halifax in 1999 and Vancouver in 2013. In each case, there were growing pains but all happened hand-in-hand with organic waste collection. Once composting extends to 100 per cent of the city by the end of 2025, Mauger said she expects things will begin to shift. According to the Leger city survey, less than half of Montrealers use the so-called brown bin to dispose of organic waste and their knowledge of what goes in the bin has only risen by one per cent, to 41 per cent, since 2021. The survey results aren't surprising and transition rarely comes without complaint, said Karel Ménard, a Montreal environmentalist. "I think it's a shared responsibility between the citizens, and the municipality, which has an obligation to have a clean and healthy city," said Ménard, head of Front commun québécois pour une gestion écologique des déchets, an organization that promotes ecological waste management. "Also, I would even say, the producers, because what we often see in the alleys are short-lived, disposable items, so there's also a problem of overconsumption." WATCH | Biweekly pickups are frustrating residents in this Montreal borough: People in this Montreal borough say there's a rat problem. They blame the biweekly garbage pickup 2 months ago Duration 1:59 Residents in Mercier–Hochelaga–Maisonneuve say the rodent problem is out of control. Exterminators say nearby construction and Montreal's regulations for rodenticide products are also contributing factors. Many municipalities in the Greater Montreal area and elsewhere in Quebec, have switched to biweekly pickup, if not every three weeks or monthly in some cases. But Greater Montreal is mainly suburbs with single-family homes, which isn't the case in the city's boroughs. "There are 900,000 doors in Montreal, plus 40,000 businesses, industries, and institutions that have municipal collection," Mauger said. "We estimate that eighty per cent of the buildings in Montreal don't have their own driveway, so it's not really one size fits all." The zero-waste plan places an emphasis on reducing food waste, more composting and recycling. The city has also prohibited the use of single-use plastic items, like cups, utensils and straws. Opposition Coun. Stephanie Valenzuela of Ensemble Montréal said the polling results suggest Projet Montréal has a lot of work to do. "The results really speak to the amount of energy and investment the city has been putting into informing residents on the goals that we're trying to achieve," Valenzuela said. Valenzuela said the public reaction also contrasts with how the administration has portrayed itself as being innovative and avant-garde when it comes to the environment. "We've seen that when it comes to their big promises, when it comes to the environment, they're actually missing the mark," Valenzuela said. But Mauger is confident the city will be able to extend biweekly pickup to all 19 Montreal boroughs by 2029. "What we see in this poll, it's also that three-quarters of the population are aware of the problem of sending too much waste to the landfill that's filling up at a very high pace," Mauger said. "And they want to do more to be part of the solution … so that's really promising too." WATCH | In May, Mauger weighed in on poll about garbage pickup: Majority of Montrealers against less frequent garbage pickup, poll finds 1 month ago Duration 4:41 A new Leger poll commissioned by the City of Montreal suggests more than half of residents aren't on board with cutting back on curbside trash collection. As part of its push to become a zero-waste city by 2030, Montreal is considering reducing trash collection to once every two weeks, but 54 per cent of respondents said they're against the idea. We spoke to Marie-Andrée Mauger, Montreal's executive committee member in charge of ecological transition.
CTV News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Montreal's move to biweekly trash pick up proving to be a slow process
Garbage, which was put out for pickup on the incorrect day, lays on the ground next to recycling bins that were collected by sanitation workers in Montreal on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov MONTREAL — The garbage may be piling up and causing some disgruntlement on the sidewalks of a few Montreal streets, but municipal officials say it's all part of a plan to become a zero-waste city by the year 2030. And they say their plan is working. 'People are making progress in their thinking, realizing that when they participate in the recycling collection, the organic waste collection, that there is not much waste left,' Marie-Andrée Mauger said. As a member of the city's executive committee in charge of ecological transition in Mayor Valérie Plante's Projet Montréal party, Mauger is the point person overseeing a switch that has reduced the frequency of garbage collection in some neighbourhoods to a biweekly pickup. Three boroughs —St-Laurent, Verdun and Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve — have started implementing the plan, which is also a part of Plante's pledge to 'make Montreal the greenest city in North America.' But residents in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve are not thrilled with the stench. Jonathan Haiun, a spokesman for Ligue 33, a community group in eastern Montreal that advocates for quality of life issues, said spacing out the collection hasn't had the desired effect since it was brought in late last year. 'The problem seems to be some people who just aren't composting or at least not doing it properly, and then a lot of the stuff that we do find in the garbage is just a mix of everything,' Haiun said. 'What we have been asking for since the beginning is that they go back to collecting garbage every week because we don't feel that that's actually an ecological measure.' According to most recent survey results conducted for the city and obtained by Ensemble Montreal, the opposition party at city hall, some 54 per cent of residents polled consider switching to trash pickup every two weeks 'unacceptable.' Meanwhile, other major Canadian cities have had biweekly pickup for years: Toronto since 2008, Halifax in 1999 and Vancouver in 2013. In each case, there were growing pains but all happened hand-in-hand with organic waste collection. Mauger said she expects once composting extends to 100 per cent of the city by the end of 2025, things will begin to shift. According to the Leger city survey, less than half of Montrealers use the so-called brown bin to dispose of organic waste and their knowledge of what goes in the bin has only risen by one per cent, to 41 per cent, since 2021. The survey results aren't surprising and transition rarely comes without complaint, said Karel Ménard, a Montreal environmentalist. 'I think it's a shared responsibility between the citizens, and the municipality, which has an obligation to have a clean and healthy city,' said Ménard, head of Front commun québécois pour une gestion écologique des déchets, an organization that promotes ecological waste management. 'Also, I would even say, the producers, because what we often see in the alleys are short-lived, disposable items, so there's also a problem of overconsumption.' Many municipalities in the Greater Montreal area and elsewhere in Quebec, have switched to biweekly pickup, if not every three weeks or monthly in some cases. But Greater Montreal is mainly suburbs with single-family homes, which isn't the case in the city's boroughs. 'There are 900,000 doors in Montreal, plus 40,000 businesses, industries, and institutions that have municipal collection,' Mauger said. 'We estimate that eighty per cent of the buildings in Montreal don't have their own driveway, so it's not really one size fits all.' The zero waste plan places an emphasis on reducing food waste, more composting and recycling. The city has also prohibited the use of single-use plastic items, like cups, utensils and straws. Opposition Coun. Stephanie Valenzuela of Ensemble Montréal said the polling results suggest Projet Montréal has a lot of work to do. 'The results really speak to the amount of energy and investment the city has been putting into informing residents on the goals that we're trying to achieve,' Valenzuela said. Valenzuela said the public reaction also contrasts with how the administration has portrayed itself as being innovative and avant-garde when it comes to the environment. 'We've seen that when it comes to their big promises, when it comes to the environment, they're actually missing the mark,' Valenzuela said. But Mauger is confident the city will be able to extend biweekly pickup to all 19 Montreal boroughs by 2029. 'What we see in this poll, it's also that three-quarters of the population are aware of the problem of sending too much waste to the landfill that's filling up at a very high pace,' Mauger said. 'And they want to do more to be part of the solution … so that's really promising too.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2025. Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Montreal's move to biweekly trash pick up proving to be a slow process
MONTREAL — The garbage may be piling up and causing some disgruntlement on the sidewalks of a few Montreal streets, but municipal officials say it's all part of a plan to become a zero-waste city by the year 2030. And they say their plan is working. "People are making progress in their thinking, realizing that when they participate in the recycling collection, the organic waste collection, that there is not much waste left," Marie-Andrée Mauger said. As a member of the city's executive committee in charge of ecological transition in Mayor Valérie Plante's Projet Montréal party, Mauger is the point person overseeing a switch that has reduced the frequency of garbage collection in some neighbourhoods to a biweekly pickup. Three boroughs —St-Laurent, Verdun and Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve — have started implementing the plan, which is also a part of Plante's pledge to "make Montreal the greenest city in North America." But residents in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve are not thrilled with the stench. Jonathan Haiun, a spokesman for Ligue 33, a community group in eastern Montreal that advocates for quality of life issues, said spacing out the collection hasn't had the desired effect since it was brought in late last year. "The problem seems to be some people who just aren't composting or at least not doing it properly, and then a lot of the stuff that we do find in the garbage is just a mix of everything," Haiun said. "What we have been asking for since the beginning is that they go back to collecting garbage every week because we don't feel that that's actually an ecological measure." According to most recent survey results conducted for the city and obtained by Ensemble Montreal, the opposition party at city hall, some 54 per cent of residents polled consider switching to trash pickup every two weeks 'unacceptable.' Meanwhile, other major Canadian cities have had biweekly pickup for years: Toronto since 2008, Halifax in 1999 and Vancouver in 2013. In each case, there were growing pains but all happened hand-in-hand with organic waste collection. Mauger said she expects once composting extends to 100 per cent of the city by the end of 2025, things will begin to shift. According to the Leger city survey, less than half of Montrealers use the so-called brown bin to dispose of organic waste and their knowledge of what goes in the bin has only risen by one per cent, to 41 per cent, since 2021. The survey results aren't surprising and transition rarely comes without complaint, said Karel Ménard, a Montreal environmentalist. "I think it's a shared responsibility between the citizens, and the municipality, which has an obligation to have a clean and healthy city," said Ménard, head of Front commun québécois pour une gestion écologique des déchets, an organization that promotes ecological waste management. "Also, I would even say, the producers, because what we often see in the alleys are short-lived, disposable items, so there's also a problem of overconsumption." Many municipalities in the Greater Montreal area and elsewhere in Quebec, have switched to biweekly pickup, if not every three weeks or monthly in some cases. But Greater Montreal is mainly suburbs with single-family homes, which isn't the case in the city's boroughs. "There are 900,000 doors in Montreal, plus 40,000 businesses, industries, and institutions that have municipal collection," Mauger said. 'We estimate that eighty per cent of the buildings in Montreal don't have their own driveway, so it's not really one size fits all." The zero waste plan places an emphasis on reducing food waste, more composting and recycling. The city has also prohibited the use of single-use plastic items, like cups, utensils and straws. Opposition Coun. Stephanie Valenzuela of Ensemble Montréal said the polling results suggest Projet Montréal has a lot of work to do. "The results really speak to the amount of energy and investment the city has been putting into informing residents on the goals that we're trying to achieve," Valenzuela said. Valenzuela said the public reaction also contrasts with how the administration has portrayed itself as being innovative and avant-garde when it comes to the environment. "We've seen that when it comes to their big promises, when it comes to the environment, they're actually missing the mark," Valenzuela said. But Mauger is confident the city will be able to extend biweekly pickup to all 19 Montreal boroughs by 2029. 'What we see in this poll, it's also that three-quarters of the population are aware of the problem of sending too much waste to the landfill that's filling up at a very high pace,' Mauger said. 'And they want to do more to be part of the solution … so that's really promising too.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2025. Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press Sign in to access your portfolio
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘It really is possible to be zero waste': the restaurant with no bin
Hunched over the pass in the open restaurant kitchen, a team of chefs are dusting ceviche with a powder made from lime skins that would, in most cases, have been thrown away. The Mexico City restaurant where they work looks like most restaurant kitchens but it lacks one key element: there is no bin. Baldío was co-founded by brothers Lucio and Pablo Usobiaga and chef Doug McMaster, best known for his groundbreaking zero-waste spot Silo London. 'In my eyes, bins are coffins for things that have been badly designed,' says McMaster. 'If there was a trophy for negligence, it would be bin-shaped.' The food, which recently earned a Michelin green star, is creative but still quintessentially Mexican: squash tostada with guaca-broccoli, maguey flower, maguey worm, chinampa flower, or grassfed pork from Veracruz with tamarind mole, served with chinampa greens and house-made kimchi. Significant planning is needed from sourcing to preparation, and the founders are also behind Arca Tierra, a regenerative agriculture project that includes a network of 50 farmers in central Mexico as well as the organisation's own farm in the pre-Aztec canal system at Xochimilco, an ancient neighbourhood in the south of Mexico City. 'Restaurants can have a big environmental impact but they also have a big reach,' says Lucio Usobiaga. 'We want Baldío to be a model that shows it's possible to be both zero waste and to rely on farmers rather than supermarkets.' Although the food is finished off in the restaurant's open kitchen, most preparation happens at La Baldega, a workshop where the team operates a fermentation programme that helps preserve ingredients as well as upcycle byproducts such as peel and gristle. This includes pre-Hispanic Mexican drinks such as tepache and pulque, as well as koji fermentation – popular in Japan and China for thousands of years – to transform fish guts into sauce. Globally, one-fifth of food is lost or wasted, according to the UN, equivalent to 1bn meals a day, at a time when one in every nine people is malnourished. When food decomposes in landfill it releases methane, which has 25-times higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Silo, when it opened in 2014, became the first restaurant in the world not to have a bin, raising the bar on what zero waste means. Less than 1% of food is composted and no single-use materials are used. A dedicated pottery transforms glass into porcelain that is used for tableware, light fixtures and tiles. Baldío is part of a new wave of restaurants that are moving beyond vague claims of sustainability to embrace a regenerative ethos. In Lisbon, SEM, from the Silo alumni Lara Santo and George McLeod, serves invasive freshwater fish such as the zander, which was introduced to Portugal in the 1980s for sport. Flores, a family-run restaurant in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, dries offal in koji before shaving it over meat dishes. Helsinki's Nolla (meaning 'zero' in Finnish) gives compost to its suppliers and guests – a doggy bag with a difference. Baldío goes one step further through its symbiotic relationship with Xochimilco, the last remnant of the network of blue-green waterways that dazzled Spanish invaders when they arrived 500 years ago. The Unesco heritage site is a key stopover for migratory birds and the only place where axolotls still live in the wild. Although the unique ecosystem is severely threatened by urban sprawl, many Indigenous residents still farm chinampas (a pre-Aztec technique consisting of islands formed from willow trees, lilies and mud), gliding through the blue-green canals on wobbly canoes laden with lettuce, radish and verdolagas (Mexican parsley). 'In agriculture, how you go about production really determines how much carbon you emit,' says Melanie Kolb, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. As well as buying from five local families, Arca Tierra farms 18 chinampas using a three-row agroforestry system. The farming team led by Sonia Tapia Garcés combines ancestral techniques such as chapines – rich sediment cut into squares used for germinating seeds – with compost from Baldío's kitchen and a hi-tech wood shedder that allows them to create mulch, which contributes to the soil's potential for carbon sequestration. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion The result is a crop that is irrigated with bio-filtered canal water and can be harvested 365 days a year without depleting the soil's nutrients. It is enough to supply 50% of Baldío's needs. The restaurant's chefs, who visit every Monday to plan that week's menus, have a continuing dialogue with the growers and often help with harvesting. Ingredients are carried by boat to downtown Xochimilco and driven 8km to La Baldega. Reducing distance travelled and the need for refrigeration on longer journeys results in a fraction of the carbon emissions associated with typical restaurant supply chains. For 74-year-old Noy Coquis Saldedo, who rents land to Arca Tierra, the project offers an opportunity to preserve his identity at a time when just 2.5% of the chinampas are still used for traditional agriculture. 'It's very sad that young people don't want to farm any more,' he says. 'But now we are delivering food to the great city like my ancestors did.' A pod of young pelicans surf a warm gust between the verdant banks, practising for the journey they will soon make to California. For Lucio Usobiaga, closing the loop between the chinampas and Baldío could be a blueprint for the future. 'Ultimately, I hope the project shows people that a more just and better food system is possible.' And the food? When the Guardian tasted it, it was delicious: flame-licked, spiked with salsas and texturally balanced, it is distinctly Mexican – yet also something entirely its own.
Globe and Mail
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Globe and Mail
Will Canada's World Cup Set a Zero-Waste Standard, or Leave a Legacy of Trash?
TORONTO, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In one year, millions of fans will take part in global festivities around Toronto's BMO Field and Vancouver's BC Place as Canada co-hosts the FIFA World Cup 26 TM. What they leave behind could be just as monumental: a legacy of trash, or a breakthrough in sustainable sport. Today, Oceana Canada launched #ReuseForTheWin, a campaign urging Toronto and Vancouver to eliminate single-use food and beverage containers during the tournament. The campaign calls on stadium operators to eliminate single-use cups for beer, pop, and coffee during the World Cup. The stadium operator in Toronto is Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (BMO Field) and in Vancouver, it is BC Pavilion Corporation (BC Place, which already operates a reusable cup program in select sections and is exploring expansion). The solution is simple: ditch single-use cups bound for the trash and replace them with ones that will be collected, cleaned, re-stocked, and reused for the next game, creating a zero-waste standard in global sport. 'Every match of the World Cup could generate over 100,000 single-use items — and that's just from drinks,' said Anthony Merante, Senior Plastics Campaigner at Oceana Canada. 'We have one shot to get this right. If stadiums make the switch to reuse, Canada can leave behind a legacy of sustainable leadership, not litter.' The Problem: Single-Use Waste on a Global Stage Governments are investing nearly $1 billion to host the FIFA World Cup 26™ in Toronto and Vancouver. Unless major venues stop serving single-use items, millions of cups, trays, bottles, and wrappers could end up in landfill, incinerators, or polluting waterways. This isn't just a waste issue — it's an ocean crisis. Major sports stadiums across Canada routinely serve single-use items, many of them made from or lined with plastic. In Canada, half of all plastic waste is single-use like the products served in the stands. Yet only eight per cent of plastics are recycled, with more than 90 per cent going to landfill, incineration, or directly into lakes, rivers, and oceans. Canadians want better. An Oceana Canada-commissioned poll by Abacus Data found that 88 per cent of Canadians would choose a reusable option over single-use one if available. Right now, fans at BMO Field and BC Place lack choice. It's time to make single use history. #ReuseForTheWin. The Solution: Reuse is a Win for Everyone If BMO Field and BC Place fully switch to reuse, up to 2.3 million single-use items could be avoided during the tournament. Reuse creates local green jobs in collection, cleaning, and delivery, while cutting waste management costs. All fans would get a guilt-free, zero-waste experience at every match. Toronto and Vancouver could create a sustainability legacy for their stadiums and cities. Each year, more than $7.8 billion worth of plastic is lost to landfills in Canada. Reusables offer a long-term, sustainable investment, eliminating the need to repurchase items that become trash after a single use. Reuse isn't just good for the environment, it's good economics. The Call to Action: One Year to Get it Right The opportunity for change is now. Oceana Canada is calling on: Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (BMO Field) and the BC Pavillion Corporation (BC Place) to ditch single use and switch to reuse ahead of the FIFA World Cup 26™. Toronto and Vancouver to pass reuse bylaws ahead of FIFA World Cup 26™, requiring refillable and reusable food and beverage service at stadiums, restaurants, festivals and other large venues. (Read and sign the petition at The Coca-Cola Company, one of the largest 2026 World Cup sponsors, to invest in the transition to reuse at World Cup venues. 'Hosting the World Cup will leave a legacy on our cities. Let's make it one of sustainability — not waste,' said Merante. 'Stadiums across the world have already been upgraded to reuse and found success. This is Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and the BC Pavillion Corporation's moment to lead.' Oceana Canada's recommendations follow a workshop with stadium operators, policy experts, reuse providers, and government representatives from across Canada and the United States exploring practical approaches to zero-waste operations in sport. Visit to learn more and add your voice to the call for zero-waste World Cup cities. Oceana Canada was established as an independent charity in 2015 and is part of the largest international advocacy group dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana Canada has successfully campaigned to ban single-use plastics, end the shark fin trade, make rebuilding depleted fish populations the law, improve the way fisheries are managed and protect marine habitat. We work with civil society, academics, fishers, Indigenous Peoples and the federal government to return Canada's formerly vibrant oceans to health and abundance. By restoring Canada's oceans, we can strengthen our communities, reap greater economic and nutritional benefits and protect our future. Find out more at
