City deploys extra workers to clean up discarded items on sidewalks after Moving Day

After the July 1 moving day, the city has 100 extra workers cleaning up all the unwanted items left on the sidewalks of Montreal.

But citizens are being asked to avoid leaving their junk on the streets.

On Laurier East, near St-Michel in Rosemont-Pettite Patrie, a team of workers shoved a couch into a garbage truck. It's one of many furniture items left on the sidewalk, now being crunched into pieces and dumped into a landfill.

"The cleanup operation is going very well in different boroughs. We're in control of this situation, but we still need the cooperation of every citizen. So, please use the appropriate day to bring your items onto the street and it should be sorted," said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin, adding that citizens should sort and recycle as much as possible.

He says 50,000 tons of household goods from Moving Day go into landfills this week alone. Sabourin also says large items should be brought to an Ecocentre to be disposed of responsibly.

Renaissance Donation Centres don't take furniture, but CEO Eric St-Arnaud said they take almost everything else.

"Electronics, all computers, printers. We get it. Even if it's broken or not working, we take it. Batteries -- we don't reuse but we have a third party who does recycle the batteries, so bring it," he said.

Looking around some neighbourhoods this week, many appear to leave their old junk on the sidewalk. Sabourin says residents should check online when boroughs have special pick-ups.

"You want to manage your waste properly, go on the website. Montreal.ca. We will provide you [with] tips."