Plateau Mont-Royal borough Mayor Luc Ferrandez, right, and Projet Montréal leader Richard Bergeron show off the borough's new plastic recycling bags. (CBC)

The Montreal borough of Plateau Mont-Royal is kicking its recycling boxes to the curb and replacing them with plastic bags.

Borough mayor Luc Ferrandez announced the measure as part of a bigger plan to clean up the area.

"If you've ever visited the Plateau on a day that the wind blows, it's amazing. The whole place looks like a garbage can," said Ferrandez.

"So, by having something … closed, we're hoping that there will be less garbage on the streets."

Green bins to go

The switch to the bags begins June 7. The borough will distribute the bags door to door for free for the first year. Blue-collar workers will be collecting the old green bins, which should be left out on the sidewalk, borough officials said.

After the first year, residents will have to purchase the bags, either at grocery stores or Access Montreal offices. They will cost approximately $6 for a box of 40. Bags will be available for free to low-income Montrealers, Ferrandez said.

The boroughs of Ville-Marie and Verdun already use plastic bags to collect recycling, and the recycling rates in those areas have increased by 15 to 30 per cent, Ferrandez said. He said he expects the same to happen in the Plateau.

However, most Montreal boroughs are adopting large, lidded green bins on wheels. That option doesn't make sense on the Plateau, with its numerous duplexes and triplexes, said Ferrandez.

"Its absolutely not convenient for the kind of buildings we have here. Even on the first storey, it uses a huge amount of space."

The Plateau is also doubling the number of inspectors responsible for borough cleanliness — from four to eight — to ensure that residents and businesses are properly disposing of waste and keeping their properties clean.

The new measures to improve cleanliness in the borough will cost $3.6 million.

As for the 50,000 green bins now in use, Ferrandez said they will be reused. One possible use he suggested was to donate them to schools, where they could be used as planters.

Bags get mixed reviews

People living in the Plateau had mixed views on the new plan.

"I think it's going to be better, and we can put a few more things inside," said Martin Plante, who doesn't currently use a recycling bin.

Others were less enthusiastic.

"I can see where they're coming from with the aspect of things blowing around — they don't always necessarily stay where they're supposed to —but at the same time, I feel that's just going to increase the waste," said Kaila De Boer.

Another resident, Michelle Jones, would have liked the borough to at least choose a different material than plastic.

"I think plastic bags are too bad because they're kind of wasteful, in terms of, they don't decompose or anything," said Michelle Jones.

The polyethylene bags will not be recycled. However, Ferrandez argues the old green bins are much more wasteful, because tens of thousands need to be replaced every year.