The City of Côte Saint-Luc expanded organic waste collection in February 2026 to townhouses and the Maimonides Geriatric Centre.
Townhouses
Over the years, the City of Côte Saint-Luc has received requests from residents living in townhouse complexes asking whether they could also take part in organic waste collection. In response, the City is now beginning to offer this service to all 17 townhouse complexes across the community.
At some participating townhouses, garbage collection will continue twice a week while residents get used to sorting their waste. Eventually, waste collection will be once a week, and organic waste collection once a week.
Public Works has been delivering 240-litre brown compost bins to townhouse complexes, along with information kits that include pamphlets, paper bag samples, and a newly designed kitchen collector.
What is organic waste
Organic waste collection focuses on food scraps and other compostable materials, such as fruit and vegetable peels, leftovers, coffee grounds, and yard waste like leaves and grass clippings. Instead of ending up in landfills, these materials are collected separately and transformed into useful resources through composting or other natural processes.
By diverting organic waste from landfills, the program helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lowers overall waste, and returns valuable nutrients to the soil. It’s a simple change that delivers real environmental benefits.
Financial benefit
Through Québec’s Programme sur la redistribution aux municipalités des redevances pour l’élimination de matières résiduelles, the City received $632,289.61 for the year 2024. This amount reflects how much waste Côte Saint-Luc diverted through recycling and composting compared to other municipalities across the province. The program is designed to ensure that only waste with no potential for reuse ends up in landfills, while encouraging municipalities to continuously improve their waste and composting practices.
Other initiatives
The expansion into townhouses also aligns with other composting initiatives underway across the city. Maimonides Geriatric Centre will introduce organic waste collection at the facility. Working closely with the hospital’s hygiene, sanitation, and food services teams, a tailored plan has been developed that integrates composting into daily kitchen operations. This follows the initiative started in 2025 at the Mount Sinai Hospital. These partnerships increase the amount of organic waste diverted from landfill and reflect the City’s ongoing efforts to expand composting with institutions such as hospitals, schools, and synagogues.
For more information about the organic waste collection program, email [email protected] or visit
www.cotesaintluc.org/en/waste-collection/schedule/
Quotations
“Offering organic waste collection at townhouses is a change, and we know that not everyone will choose to participate right away. Our hope is that once the service is in place and residents see that putting leftover foods and paper towels in a separate bin is relatively easy, more households will feel comfortable taking part. Over time, we’ll be able to divert more organic waste from landfill and increase the funds we receive from the Quebec government.” – Mayor David Tordjman