Recycling is expected to resume Tuesday in at least two Montreal-area municipalities following an interruption in service the week before.
Materials on some streets in both Hampstead and Côte Saint-Luc were left uncollected because of problems at the Saint-Michel recycling plant.
“We waited a day, two days, three days and then people would start putting their recycling into our recycling; there was a build-up,” Hampstead resident Elyse Berenbaum toldGlobal News.
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The Town of Hampstead said the delay was due to an equipment failure.
“In order to assist residents whose recycling was not collected earlier this week, the contractor has agreed to pick-up excess recycling materials in the clear biodegradable plastic bags provided by the town,” it stated.
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In Côte Saint-Luc, Mayor Mitchell Brownstein said trucks were backed up for up to five hours at the plant.
“So, we put out a statement telling people not to be concerned and that we would pick up the recycling material that wasn’t picked up last week.”
He said he was told by Benoit Dorais, president of the city’s executive committee, that the problem was an unspecified equipment malfunction.
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Other areas around the city, like the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-NDG, also had problems getting recycling picked up.
City Councillor Peter McQueen explains he started noticing contractors missing pick-ups a few weeks ago after China raised its purity standards and started refusing some Canadian recycling.
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“But now we realize that it’s a growing situation all over Quebec, so people are going to have to start asking some questions about what they’re recycling and how we’re recycling, how clean the recycling is,” he said.
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