Residential Pet Waste Collection Service

Why should we compost our pet waste?  

Do you think we should stop sending pet waste to landfill and instead turn it into agricultural-grade compost?

Well now we can! After all these years helping residents, businesses and institutions compost food waste, in collaboration with Compostable.ca, Compost Montreal now offers pet waste collection and composting services! 

Through partnerships with pet supply stores, vet clinics, and with the participation of pet owners, our collection program diverts waste from dogs, cats and other companion animals from landfill, preventing greenhouse gas and transforming the “waste” into a valuable component of nutrient-rich compost.   

As you know, compost is an essential ingredient in sustainable agriculture, and it has become increasingly crucial to maintain productive, resilient, and regenerative soil in the face of ongoing climate change.

Until now, pet waste in Montreal had just one destination — landfill, where carbon dioxide and methane gas are built up and released into the atmosphere as the waste decomposes. In addition to this, the vast number of petroleum plastic bags used to contain the waste also compounds the problem, leaching chemicals and microplastics into ecosystems. 

Our collection program addresses these problems and optimizes the potential of pet waste by transforming it — and the compostable bags that carry it — into an essential resource for the sustainability of our food systems.  

We have pets ourselves, and while we can’t live without them, we also know they have environmental impacts if we don’t manage things properly. Now is your chance to be part of the solution. Join our pet waste collection program, and help transform an environmental burden into a valuable resource for a sustainable future. 

How does Compost Montreal’s pet waste collection service work?

Here are the main details you’ll need to know about our pet waste collection:

GETTING STARTED

Collection happens at your door on the same day every week, once you have signed up and received your equipment, which includes the following items: 

● A 45-litre collection bin

● Compostable bin liner bags 

● Compostable pet waste bags

● A hanging tag-style pet waste carrier

● A bag of wood mulch 

● An 80-litre wood mulch storage bin (optional)

This may seem like a lot of gear but it all plays an important role. Here’s what you need to know about these items:

1. You’ll need to layer some wood mulch in your bin throughout the year but much more so during the hottest months. The mulch acts as a biofilter, absorbing moisture and odour and keeping your bin clean. 

2. The storage bin for the wood mulch is meant to keep the mulch dry, as most people store it outside. If you have another container you’d prefer to use or you plan to keep the mulch in a dry place, just let us know and we’ll remove the 80-litre bin from your startup kit.

3. There is a $20.00 deposit on the repurposed mailbag that the mulch comes in. You are free to use the bag to store your mulch, as long as the bag comes back to us in good condition. Please note that the bag is not water or UV-proof.

4. One of the most critical pieces of equipment we provide is used to carry your dog waste back to your home collection bin. While we include a basic ‘tag-style’ hanging tab carrier with your starter kit, you can also order our preferred style of carrier — a more rigidly-constructed, odour-trapping, hanging transport tube — available on  our webstore. 

5. To ensure that everything sent to our compost site is fully compostable, participants in our program use compostable bin liners and pet waste bags provided exclusively through our webstore, Compostable.ca. 

This may seem strict but it’s for a couple of important reasons: 

• • This approach is necessary to allow us to ensure the quality of the bags used, which is essential to maintaining the cleanliness of the program;
    

  • This approach also prevents contaminants — like petroleum-based plastic bags — from finding their way into the organics we collect. Being able to identify the bags by sight is critical to achieving this goal and ensuring the quality of our compost.

6. When it comes to cat litter, you can use any clay-based formula, as clay poses no problem for the compost! Wood shavings and shredded paper are also accepted.

Please note however that silica-based types of litter are not allowed.

7. We provide a standard 45-litre collection bin, though there are a few alternatives we can explore together if you have space concerns.

HOW MUCH DOES COMPOST MONTREAL’S PET WASTE COLLECTION COST?

The one-time cost for your bins ranges from $55 to $144. Additional start-up equipment ranges from $80 to $142, since some items are required and others are optional.

Our collection service fee is $10 per week, and you get one week free when you pay for 3 months of service at a time, which brings your 3-month subscription to $120.00. If you choose to pay monthly, the service cost is $45 per month. 

Note that collection bins and service costs can be shared, so please feel free to reach out to your neighbours!

HOW DO I JOIN COMPOST MONTREAL’S PET WASTE COLLECTION?

Just fill out this short form if you’d like to subscribe to our service — we look forward to working with you and your creatures too! If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us at animaux@compostmontreal.com.