Montreal renews contract with ‘Trash2Treasure’ program

The city of Montreal and Trash2Treasure (RebutRécup) have renewed their contract which offers a home collection service by appointment for reusable items.

In a press release announced on Tuesday, the city of Montreal said that these services diverted around 2.5 tonnes of material from landfills last year.

The collection started April 24, and will continue until May 1. People must register online before the pickup, and leave their items on the curb at a designated time ranging from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Spokesperson for the city of Montreal Phillipe Sabourin said that they’re offering a way for students to sort their items, recycle and help the environment.

“We’re trying to find means to help students recycle their items or re-gift it to someone that could really benefit from this object,” he said. “In fact, we’re trying to reduce the amount of objects going directly to the dump or the trash.”

Every year, the sidewalks in the Milton-Park area in Montreal get littered with large items when students move out, after their lease expires on May 1.

Trash2Treasure is a free service that’s offered and many students can take advantage of it while moving.

However, Sabourin said that citizens will pay a fine ranging from $200 to $2,000 if they don’t respect the bylaws and the hours when you can bring your items onto the curb.

“When comes the moving day, they’re leaving the area and they’re leaving their garbage on the curb of the street without any sorting,” said Sabourin.

Eloïse Figaszewski is the Communication and Engagement manager for Trash2Treasure.

She said that instead of using trucks, this year they’ll be collecting items using electric bikes.

“We had an electrical truck before, but it broke down. So, we chose to only go to e-bikes and it works very well with our trailers,” she explained. “It’s carbon neutral so that’s very important for us too. We went to places quickly with the trucks, but now we have four bikes so, I think we have more than enough for all collections.”

Some of the items collected are dishes, small household appliances, furniture, etc. However, they won’t take mattresses, upholstered furniture and large household appliances such as a fridge or washing machine.

Figaszewski said with students leaving every year, they need to find new ways to attract more people.

“It will develop in the next few years. We need to put a lot of work every year,” she said. “People speak about it but they leave, so sadly it’s complicated.”

The collected objects and furniture will be redistributed to students or a non-profit organization.

“We sent a lot of flyers within the neighborhood, just talking to students, getting the word out very like just interpersonally,” said Vice President of External affairs for the Students’ Society of McGill University Liam Gaither. “I think people are looking for a place to put a lot of things because a lot of students come from away and they cannot take their furniture with them. And you know, most people are environmentally minded, they want to put it somewhere that’s in school and if a project like this can help with that, then that’s excellent.”

Trash2Tresure was created by the Société pour l’action, l’éducation et la sensibilisation environnementale de Montréal (SAESEM).