Gatineau relaxes rules around home composting

Starting April 1, 2017, residents have been permitted to use certified plastic bags for their compost. With the tonnage of compost idling and the population increasing, the city adopted this measure to encourage more residents to compost.

As the city pointed out, the participation rate is stagnating with a participation rate below 50%. The city is estimating that by allowing compostable plastic bags, the tonnage of compost will increase by 2,711 as compared to the 2013 level.

Municipal compost collection in Gatineau started in 2010 and plastic bags of all types have always been banned. The reason was that the compost (soil) generated was of better quality without bags and treatment costs were less.

Denise Laferrière, Hull-Wright councillor and Chair of the Environmental advisory committee, explained that, by 2020, the province will have banned the burying of compostable material. Therefore, the city had to act to encourage reluctant residents, turned off mainly by the stench, to participate. This is primarily why the city modified its collection contract of about $9.3 million over four years to permit plastic compostable bags.