Beaconsfield Receives FCM Grant for Project to Evaluate Best Practices to Divert Organic Matter

BEACONSFIELD, QC, Aug. 8, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - The City received a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Green Municipal Fund for a project that aims to evaluate the best practices to divert organic matter from landfill, and to quantify the efforts for local treatment of these materials.  Launched in July for a one-year period, this project represents a continuation of the Waste Reduction Strategy adopted by the City in 2014.

Thanks to the sustained involvement of the residents, the amount of garbage sent to landfill has gone down by 51% per capita, without increasing the total costs for waste management. Beaconsfield has become the city with the lowest rate of garbage generation among municipalities of the Agglomeration of Montreal. Despite these excellent results, the average garbage bin contains more than 50% of compostable organic matter. In 2018, the City of Beaconsfield implemented the recovery of food residue with the green residue collection. The City also encourages backyard composting, grasscycling, and leaf mulching which remain the best practices for reducing costs while avoiding the environmental impact of transport and large-scale processing.

Towards an ever more efficient management of organic matter

The City wants to improve its services to manage and treat organic matter without compromising the community's efforts for composting, grasscycling, and leaf mulching. The project aims to:

• Measure the amounts of organic matter diverted by backyard composting and grasscycling
• Evaluate the best options for food residue collection while limiting food waste
• Compare the related GHG emissions for different scenarios
• Collect data for a future contract for organic matter collection

"This Green Municipal Fund grant allows us to continue making environmental gains. This project illustrates the innovative spirit of Beaconsfield's municipal management as well as our ongoing concern for the environment that motivates us every day. It is also an excellent example of how citizens and government can work together to protect the environment," said Georges Bourelle, mayor of Beaconsfield.

The Green Municipal Fund is a $625 million program, delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities supports this Beaconsfield study because it considers the objectives innovative and the results will be a benefit for Canada's municipalities. A grant of 50% of all the expenditures has been awarded, which will bring down the costs for Beaconsfield to less than $35,000.

SOURCE City of Beaconsfield

Mayor's Office, 514 428.4410

Related Links

www.beaconsfield.ca