Cote Saint-Luc Presents Brown Bin Program at the National Assembly

On February 6, fellow Councillor Mitchell Brownstein and I presented a brief on the Brown Bin Organic Waste Collection Program to the Quebec Transport and Environment Commission. The commission which is made up of 12 members of the National Assembly is working on the next 10 year plan for waste management in Quebec. The point of the brief was to show that setting up an organic waste collection program is relatively easy to start, less costly than many believe and popular with residents.

Participation rate for the project remains around 85% and we have achieved an estimated diversion rate of 55% for the organic waste. The diversion rate means the percent of waste that is diverted from landfill, that instead is turned into compost. The actual diversion rate for Cote Saint-Luc's organic waste was 16% in 2004, which we assume remained roughly constant until the pilot began last year (The average for the province of Quebec is 8%). To put it in perspective, in a matter of 5 months since the pilot project began, we have more than tripled the diversion rate of organic waste. We hope to be one of the first cities in Quebec to reach the government's goal of 60% diversion. Cote Saint-Luc plans on expanding the organic waste collection program to all the single-family homes and duplexes in Quebec in the fall of this year.

The feedback from members of all three provincial parties was very positive. The chairman of the committee, D'Arcy McGee MNA Lawrence Bergman, said, "When we see a project of this nature and with this type of success and given the fact that you did it without very much money—that you did more with less–it's incredible." Gerry Sklavounos, MNA for Laurier-Dorion, also praised Cote Saint-Luc on the initiative. "I think these initiatives are an excellent example for the rest of the province," Sklavounos said. Agnès Maltais, the MNA for Taschereau, said she thought the work done by Cote Saint-Luc was very important for Quebec." It is truly extraordinary to meet people like you who decide to engage the society like this in their municipality and which, I think, can move Quebec forward," Maltais said. "Bravo on what you are doing, Mr. Erdelyi, and on your stubbornness in moving Quebec forward. It's extraordinary."

You can see a copy of the brief in English or French, the bilingual annex (17 MB), draft transcript of the presentation and the video of the session.

Here are the seven recommendations that were in the brief, in order to facilitate implementation of organic waste programs in Quebec:

1. Cities need to be supplied with a detailed template to facilitate implementation of an organic waste collection program.
2. Money from Quebec government programs needs to be earmarked specifically for environmental initiatives and the government must ensure it is spent for these purposes.
3. More education is needed for residents through a public information campaign on television, the Internet, and in newspapers.
4. Compostable certification is needed for paper food packaging (i.e., fast-food or take-out packaging).
5. The Quebec government needs to ensure that recyclable and compostable products are clearly marked and labeled.
6. The Quebec government should work with industry and business associations throughout the province to agree upon a timetable for all businesses within the province to transition from plastic bags to compostable or paper bags.
7. Grocery stores, food wholesalers and government facilities with industrial-size kitchens (i.e., hospitals and schools) should be obliged to send their organic waste for composting.

If you would like more information, or want to volunteer to help with the expansion of the project in Cote Saint-Luc, please contact me at serdelyi@cotesaintluc.org