City to change ‘purple bag’ collection schedule for winter

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Most Quebec City residents participating in the city’s “purple bag” food waste program will have to adjust to a modified schedule as of the week of Oct. 7.

Starting that week, the city will shift from a weekly to a bi-weekly collection schedule for food waste. This change affects all boroughs of the city, except La Cité-Limoilou, the Montmorency sector of Beauport and Maguire Avenue in Sainte-Foy– Sillery-Cap-Rouge.

The collection of garbage and purple bags will alternate with the collection of recyclable materials. The recycling collection week remains the same.

The new schedule will be in effect until March 30; weekly pickup will resume after that and continue until fall 2025.

The city began rolling out its residential compost collection program in La Haute-Saint- Charles in November 2022 and gradually expanded it over the following year. In April 2024, after the city’s biomethanization plant was expanded to process additional food waste, the city opened the program to shops, restaurants, other businesses, public institutions and indus- trial facilities. At the time, Mayor Bruno Marchand said participation in the residential program had been “beyond our expectations.”

“Currently in winter, the majority of bins placed at the curb in the targeted sectors are not full,” Coun. Marie-Josée Asselin, member of the city executive committee responsible for waste management, said in a statement announcing the schedule change. “We can now adjust collection frequencies to real needs, which no longer justify a weekly visit by trucks in the winter period. This is good news!” Asselin did not respond to a request for further comment by press time.

In the statement, city officials said shifting purple bag collection to once every two weeks reduced noise, dust, safety risks and greenhouse gas emissions caused by truck traffic.

The city invited anyone with questions or concerns about waste collection to call 311 or consult the Info-Collecte web portal (ville.quebec.qc.ca/services/info-collecte).