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CDN-NDG ready to ditch company after it fails to pick up piles of recycling

After repeatedly fining Ricova Inc. for pick-up delays, Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is poised to break ties with the company responsible for the piles of recycling left untouched across the borough, the mayor says.

Borough sends out its blue collar workers, looks for other solutions until council can vote on new contract

Isaac Olson · CBC News ·
Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Mayor Sue Montgomery said the borough's own blue collar workers will pick up missed recycling until a new contractor can be hired to take over from RICOVA Inc. (CBC)

Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce has repeatedly fined its recycling contractor for pick-up delays in recent weeks — to no avail, says borough Mayor Sue Montgomery.

The next step is to break ties with Ricova Inc., the company responsible for the piles of recycling left untouched across the borough, she told CBC News Monday.

"This contract was awarded last August under the former administration and their bid was something like $2 million lower than the others," Montgomery said.

"They started doing the job and they're like, 'Oh, we're not making any money doing this.' So they have been slacking off, basically."​

Until that contract is ceded and a new company is brought in, the borough's own blue collar workers have been hitting the streets with municipal trucks, responding to calls of missed pickups.

Montgomery said a new contract can't be issued without a council vote, and the next meeting isn't until August. 

However, municipal administrators are able to spend up to $100,000, paying waste management companies to pick up the recycling until council approves a new contract, she said.

From now until the end of the month, Montgomery said, the borough will respond to residents' calls and emails, picking up recycling on any missed streets as quickly as possible.

"Thank you everyone for your patience while we sort out our recycling issues," Montgomery wrote in a Facebook group Monday.

"We had six of our own trucks out yesterday and managed to pick up most, especially on commercial streets. We are in the midst of signing on a new company, and all should be back to normal by July 30."

Meanwhile, Montgomery is telling citizens to put their recycling out on the regularly scheduled day. If it is not picked up, the borough will send out trucks on a subsequent day.

For example, a truck will be sent out on Wednesday if scheduled pickups are missed on Monday and Tuesday, she said in her post. If pickups are missed on Thursday and Friday, she adds, a borough truck will be sent out on Saturday.

She encouraged residents to contact the borough if their street is missed.

Snowdon, Côte-des-Neiges a mess, too

Coun. Marvin Rotrand said he received about six complaints from his district of Snowdon, including entire streets that were missed by the contractor.

Other parts of the borough are also piled high with uncollected recycling. Pickups have been done irregularly or not at all, he said.

"It's gotten worse, week after week," said Rotrand. "This past week, in large parts of the borough, the recycling was not picked up."

When a contractor fails to do its job, Rotrand said the city will ask the company to cede the contract or face fines for failing to do the job.

As of Monday night, Ricova had not responded to CBC's request for comment.

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