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Nearly a year after banning the distribution of many single-use plastic items, the City of Montreal says that 92% of restaurants and food businesses have complied with the regulations.
Since the entry into force of the regulation on March 28, 2023, most of the 9,500 businesses targeted have replaced plastic straws and glasses with cardboard containers or wooden.
Any establishment that offers a catering service (restaurants, counters, food fairs, street food trucks) or that packages food for retail sale (grocery stores, convenience stores, bakeries, pastries, etc.) is covered by the regulation .
To ensure that these establishments are compliant, around thirty hygiene and sanitation inspectors at the City carried out 8,942 inspections over the last year. After giving 830 notices of infringement, around forty fines were distributed to recalcitrant businesses.
Among the establishments which persisted in deviating of the regulations, there were both large banners and local businesses, indicated Marie-Andrée Mauger, responsible for ecological transition and the environment at the City of Montreal.
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But now, the big chains are following suit, she said. It was more work, but they are there. All those who resisted applying the regulations have now complied, according to the City.
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Polystyrene plastic (#6) or compostable (#7)
We can find in this 8% [which does not comply] people who are simply not sensitive to the new regulations and who continued to act as if they did not exist, explained Martin Vézina, vice-president of public and government affairs of the Association Restauration Québec.
Some establishments also continued to use stocks of utensils and containers that they had to sell, while waiting to find other packaging, according to Mr. Vézina.
According to an economic impact analysis conducted in the summer of 2021, the abandonment of plastic containers in favor of recyclable or reusable models represented a increase of 5 to 10 cents per order. However, the City has not updated its data since.
Satisfied with the compliance rate of businesses, the City of Montreal says it has noted a drop in the volume of recyclable materials sent to sorting centers since the regulation came into force.
We also observe, in proportion to the population, a drop in the tonnage of what is sent to landfill, indicated Ms. Mauger. Because our primary goal is to reduce, so [we are aiming for a] reduction in tonnage.
Montreal has committed to diverting 85% of residual materials from landfill sites by 2030, setting an intermediate target of 70% for 2025. The City, which estimates that 50% of waste is currently diverted, agrees that it will have to invest more effort to meet its schedule.
We still have a lot of extra work to do to get there, summarized Ms. Auger.
Especially since the only site of ;the landfill of materials in the metropolitan region, located in Terrebonne, should reach its full capacity by 2029.
To find out if the Montreal authorities intend to go further, in particular by adding plastic bottles to the regulations, Ms. Auger explained that the City plans to conduct an analysis of potential measures to adopt to allow it to achieve zero waste. . Its residual materials management master plan will expire in 2025.
At the provincial level, the government of Quebec intends to adopt its Strategy for the reduction and responsible management of plastics during the year 2024.
