Pilot Project to Set Up Voluntary Residual Material Drop-off Points along Principale Street in the City of Magog

The City of Magog is planning to conduct a pilot project aimed at increasing the recovery rate of residual materials on Principale Street by more than 60%. Owing to the diverse services on Principale Street (both public and private) and a lack of appropriate containers, a high percentage (25%) of residents and business owners do not recycle anything or sort organic matter. In addition, a significant waste stream is managed under private agreements, and is therefore currently beyond the municipality’s control. The City is planning to install eight drop-off points where residents and businesses can dispose of waste, recyclable materials and organic waste. In addition to the infrastructure, an ongoing effort will be made to communicate with business owners and residents in support of the project, including two communications campaigns and a survey. The downtown core is slated to undergo a major overhaul in 2019, which will require the City to completely review waste collection during the work, since Principale Street will be closed to traffic and curbside collection (wheeled bins) will not be feasible. This context will provide the ideal conditions to encourage residents to support the pilot project, since this alternative collection system will be a necessity. It is also anticipated that the results of the pilot project could be compared with normal conditions on Principale Street, since during the renovations the street will be accessible to pedestrians, businesses will be open and residents will continue to frequent the district. The environmental objectives of the pilot project are to: • Achieve a residual materials recovery rate of more than 60% on Principale Street. A visual audit estimated the current recovery rate to be about 28%. The actual residuals recovery rate will be measured before and after the pilot project. A visual audit mid way through the project will be carried out on a visit to the business owners. • Ensure that 100% of residents and business owners have access to organics collection on Principale Street (current rate is 11%). • Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing the number of truck trips while optimizing collection. Another project objective is to enhance downtown's image, tourism experience, and pedestrian and bike traffic flow by limiting the number of containers and wheeled bins and keeping the sidewalks clear. The goal is also to decrease the cost of separate collection of organics for residents and business owners through the volume effect of bundled services. In the long run, Magog plans to establish success factors so as to assess the feasibility of extending this type of collection to other appropriate city districts (business areas, residential sectors and mixed-use districts). The project is supported by the Memphrémagog RCM’s residual materials management plan, the objective of which is to achieve a recyclable materials’ recovery rate of 70%, and an organics recovery rate of 60%. It is also included in the City of Magog’s downtown development guidelines, as well as its 2012-2030 community strategic plan. (Project description from original funding application)