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Residents flag concerns about Gatineau garbage pickup changes

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'We don't know how we're going to deal with it,' says condo association head

The City of Gatineau is aiming to reduce waste going to landfills by 45 per cent from 2013 levels. (CBC)

Residents and property groups in Gatineau are raising a stink about the city's new garbage pickup bylaws which will significantly limit the amount of waste allowed at the end of their curbs.

The new rules were supposed to take effect July 15, but two months before the upcoming changes the city said it's not ready to meet the deadline as it irons out key parts of the plan.

Under the new rules, composting will be mandatory for all residents, including tenants in highrise buildings. Homeowners will be required to fit all of their garbage in a new 120-litre bin, which is six times smaller than what's currently allowed. Residents can pay $5 per extra bag.

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Those who exceed the new limit or who are caught throwing their composting into the garbage will be subject to an unspecified fine.

Marc Brunet, president of a Gatineau condo building association, said he worries less frequent garbage pickup will lead to an increase in rats around highrise buildings. (Radio-Canada)

Policy not practical for highrises, critics say

The changes pose a problem to condominiums, according to Marc Brunet, who heads a condo association at a highrise in Hull.

He said he fears he's going to be faced with a mountain of garbage with biweekly garbage pickup.

"We're already getting complaints of major smells and odours in the corridors and the condos and we don't know how we're going to deal with it at this point yet," Brunet told Radio-Canada.

Show more Some Gatineau residents worry the new limits will lead people to dump garbage on vacant land, or in a neighbour's bin. Those in apartment and condo buildings say less frequent pick up could create major odour issues 1:07

Brunet said it's not practical to adopt the policy in highrises, because some will openly flout it and the large dumpsters will be overflowing until garbage day.

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"In a large building a lot of people will throw away fish and meat and bones in the garbage and it's going to sit there and rot for two weeks inside the building. I have a feeling it might even attract vermin, maybe even rats, bugs, you name it. We don't know how we're going to deal with it. We're going to have to make some major expenses in a refrigerated garbage room."

Meetings between city officials and condo boards are ongoing to address their concerns about garbage and compost collection.

The city said about half of what goes into its landfills is recyclable or compostable — and about 17,000 tonnes of compost ends up at the dump every year. The province is requiring Gatineau reduce the amount of waste that goes to its dump by 45 per cent of its 2016 volume by 2020.

City to accommodate some households

Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, a Gatineau city councillor, is one of the proponents of the new rules.

In an interview Friday, she said the rollout will likely be delayed while the city figures out whether to hand out the new bins to residents directly or to have residents pick them up at hardware stores.

Gatineau city councillor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette said the city will likely not meet its July 15, 2018 deadline to roll out the new waste disposal policy. (Radio-Canada)

One of the things city council will have to address at its meeting next month is how to accommodate larger families as they transition to smaller waste restrictions.

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"For those people specifically it will be hard to reach that goal. So we're really ready to help them and to accommodate them. We ask those people to contact the 311 so they can get the help they need," she said.

There will be a grace period in July so residents won't have to worry about being ticketed for not following the rules, she added. But some residents are still worried about garbage piling up in unexpected places.

"When [the bins] are going to get smaller it's going to be hell on Earth," said Elizabeth Gravel, a Gatineau resident of three years.

Elizabeth Gravel said neighbours have been throwing excess garbage in other people's garbage bins in her community and fears it will get worse when the new rules kick in. (CBC)

She said she has seen neighbours throw extra garbage into other people's bins already and worries the situation will worsen with the new changes.

'I'm all for it'

Sheila Jones shares the same concern, but said the new policy is a positive step. It won't be a "radical" change for her and her husband as they already compost and recycle often at their home.

"I've long thought that those large containers that people have just become a place for all sorts of refuse to go and it doesn't end up a very efficient way to do recycling," she said.

"So, if this move takes us toward a more efficient recycling process then I'm all for it."

Fred Masson just leaves a small bag of garbage at the end of his street and puts the rest in recycling and garbage so the new rules don't concern him. "If people participate in compost and recycling there's almost no garbage at all," he said. "In my case I don't really worry about that at all."