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Two weeks after announcing it was removing more than two dozen trash bins from the Lachine Canal in an effort to “encourage citizens to take responsibility for the management of waste destined for landfill sites,” Parks Canada announced on Thursday it was returning the bins to the site.
“Parks Canada would like to inform the visitors of the Lachine Canal National Historic Site that the garbage bins recently removed from the banks of the waterway will be reinstalled following the completion of the pilot project initiated at the beginning of the month concerning eco-responsibility and waste management,” the federal agency wrote in a communiqué. “Although the cleanliness of the canal was deemed satisfactory and similar to other areas in the first few weeks following the implementation of the pilot project, Parks Canada has taken note of the comments received by the public and will proceed with the reinstallation of the garbage bins. ”
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Parks Canada said the project was to “remedy the overflowing garbage bins resulting from the deposit of household and construction waste associated with the growing riverside population, while at the same time encouraging visitors to be aware of the amount of waste generated that is destined for landfill sites.”
However, reaction from the public was largely negative, with some users of the park — a 14-kilometre strip of federal land that runs from the Lachine borough in the west to the Old Port in the east — noting that dog walkers, unable to dispose of bags of the pets’ excrement, had left them on the lawns of residents.
Parks Canada added that it will “continue to seek innovative ways to address waste management issues along the waterway. … New types of collection bins will also be installed at strategic points along the canal to test their effectiveness at reducing the proportion of contaminants currently found in Parks Canada’s recycling containers.”
The agency said it will learn from the experience of the pilot project and “apply this knowledge to its future operations on the site and in its communications with the public.”
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