As of May 2023 and in order to reduce the amount of waste at source, Montreal will only allow the distribution of the Publisac to people who have requested it. Mayor Valérie Plante made the announcement on Monday morning.
At the present time, citizens who do not wish to receive direct mail of this type must take the initiative by affixing a sticker to their door or their mailbox. The express consent form (opt-in) that the City intends to implement starting in the spring of 2023 will instead ensure that only those who request it will receive the Publisac. ” The priority of the City’s Residual Materials Management Plan is to aim for zero waste by 2030, ”recalled the person in charge of the ecological transition on the executive committee, Marie-Andrée Mauger. “When we talk about ecological transition, we also have to show political courage. »
With this decision, the Plante administration is applying the main recommendation made by the City’s Commission on Water and the Environment in December 2019. The new by-law will also require Publisac to place flyers in a paper bag, and not in a plastic bag.
The metropolis estimates that 800,000 flyers and paper advertising leaflets are distributed on the territory of Montreal each week, more than 40 million per year, and that these unsolicited advertisements “fill sorting centers and landfills”. According to Marie-Andrée Mauger, printed advertising represents 11% of materials processed in sorting centers today.
A financial assistance program for local newspapers that could be affected by these new rules will also be put in place, the City promised.
The company that owns the Publisac, TC Transcontinental, was quick to react. According to her, the formula that Montreal will impose is not viable because of its complexity and the “prohibitive costs” of its application.
“In the current inflationary context, and at a time when the population is facing unprecedented price increases, the social and economic relevance of the Publisac is greater than ever,” said Patrick Brayley, Senior Vice-President of the Distribution Group. of TC Transcontinental, in a press release. The Publisac gives consumers access to discounts and allows the distribution of local newspapers at advantageous prices, he pointed out.
“We intend to assert our rights and those of our customers if necessary,” he also said.
In 2019, the City of Mirabel became the first municipality in Quebec to ban the automatic distribution of flyers. TC Transcontinental then turned to the courts to contest the municipal by-law. A decision on the matter is expected soon.
The question of local newspapers
Métro Média, which publishes Metro and about twenty local newspapers, says it supports the efforts of the metropolis in its ecological transition, but believes that these new distribution rules will have “major” economic consequences on local newspapers.
“The contribution of local Montreal newspapers to the vitality of our city’s social and democratic fabric must be recognized,” said Andrew Mulé, CEO of Métro Média, in a press release.
Mr. Mulé, who chairs the advisory committee on local newspapers for the City of Montreal, recognizes, however, that the Plante administration is aware of the potential impacts of its decision. He hopes the promised aid will at least offset some of the costs of distributing the newspapers through other channels.
The contribution of local Montreal newspapers to the vitality of the social and democratic fabric of our city must be recognized
The unions denounced the “unilateral” decision of the City. According to the CSN, these new rules will increase distribution costs by $20 million for local newspapers. They will make the business model of Metro and put 40 journalist jobs at risk, she warns. For its part, the FTQ argues that the 140 jobs in the two Quebec factories where the flyers are printed will also be threatened.
In 2019, a Segma survey commissioned by the City revealed that 53% of respondents intended to opt for voluntary membership. Currently, approximately 15% of citizens have opted out, according to city estimates.