CGR Montreal

Venturing beyond local borders to elevate Montréal’s circularity

Montréal, the second most populous city in Canada and Québec’s largest city, is a bustling centre of economic activity, infrastructure development and technological innovation. It is also striving to become a circular economy frontrunner. The local government has set ambitious targets, aiming to become zero waste by 2030, carbon neutral by 2050 and 17% circular by 2050. What’s more, the city’s circular economy roadmap was adopted in May 2024.

Despite this, Montréal's economy still consumes an unsustainable amount of resources—extracted worldwide—which is leading to high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and waste.

The Circularity Gap Report Montréal offers a comprehensive set of baseline circularity indicators. These metrics can empower local stakeholders to assess, track, and enhance circularity within the city and beyond, paving the way for a more resilient and low-carbon economy.

Montréal’s residents use fewer materials than the average Canadian

Montréal economy consumes 27 tonnes of materials per person per year. This is lower than Québec’s material footprint of 32 tonnes per capita and the Canadian average of 36 tonnes per capita. However, this is still more than double the world average of 12 tonnes per capita and more than triple the sustainable global target of 8 tonnes per capita.

The city’s carbon footprint is 13 tonnes per capita

While lower than the national average—at 19 tonnes per capita—Montréal’s carbon footprint exceeds the estimated sustainable level of 2.3 tonnes per person per year.

Five visions for a circular Montréal

Through exploring five ‘what-if’ scenarios, we illustrate the potential impacts of the circular transition across key systems. This analysis sheds light on the sectors or value chains where circular policies could yield the most significant reductions in material consumption and carbon footprint.

If all considered measures are implemented, Montréal’s material footprint could be lowered by a remarkable 38%, while the carbon footprint could decrease by 46%.

Build a circular built environment

Material footprint reduced by 12%

Carbon footprint reduced by 9%

Circularity Metric is increased by 0.93 percentage points (pp)

The built environment is the biggest contributor to Montréal’s material footprint and the second largest source of GHG emissions. Therefore, reducing material use in this sector should be a top priority.

This scenario includes optimising building stock expansion and increasing occupancy by extending the lifespan of existing buildings and rethinking the need for new builds. In addition, it explores the effects of crafting a low-carbon, energy-efficient building stock. In terms of new construction, the city could increase circularity by boosting efficient building practices such as bio-based materials and modular design.

Shift to a circular food system

Material footprint reduced by 5%

Carbon footprint reduced by 4%

Circularity Metric is increased by 0.41 pp

Montréal aims to cut food waste by 50% by 2025 while aiming to eliminate all organic waste from landfills by 2030. This city is also considered the capital of urban agriculture with 57 agricultural businesses and numerous community and collective gardens.

To help the city hit its audacious targets, we estimated the effects of a shift to more sustainable food production by increasing organic, local and seasonal food production across the entire food value chain. A balanced diet, limiting caloric intake to the recommended amount, and reducing and valorising food loss and waste are also included in this scenario.

Advance circular manufacturing

Material footprint reduced by 4%

Carbon footprint reduced by 4%

Circularity Metric is increased by 0.13 pp

The manufacturing sector serving Montréal is primarily based on a linear business model that relies on virgin materials. Consequently, it follows the built environment as the second largest resource consumer, representing 30% of the city’s material footprint.

In a circular manufacturing system, product lifetimes are extended through R-strategies like repair and remanufacturing, particularly for machinery, equipment, and vehicles. It also implies advancing resource-efficient manufacturing, for example, cutting yield losses and raw material inputs as well as reusing scrap metal.

Promote a circular lifestyle

Material footprint reduced by 11%

Carbon footprint reduced by 11%

Circularity Metric is increased by 0.3 pp

Montréal is a high-income economy, which typically fuels overconsumption. For example, almost half of used textiles there are wasted, rather than resold or recycled. Changing people's consumption habits is, therefore, crucial.

This scenario explores just one intervention: a low-impact lifestyle of 'material sufficiency' where high standards of wellbeing are maintained and conscious living is prioritised over excess and wastefulness. This includes buying less, using products for longer, opting for eco-alternatives and recycling.

Redesign mobility

Material footprint reduced by 9%

Carbon footprint reduced by 21%

Circularity Metric is increased by 0.28 pp

Montréal has already made impressive steps towards a circular transport system: improving its public transport network, developing bike lanes, increasing the supply of shared bicycles and facilitating the electrification of personal and commercial vehicles.

The final scenario examines the impacts of extending these measures to reduce or avoid unnecessary travel by promoting flexible working and smarter urban design. Additionally, it takes into account the effects of cleaner urban mobility such as lightweight and electric vehicles, shared mobility and electrified public transport.

endorsers

Thanks to the creativity, innovation and dynamism of our businesses, Montréal is a leader in the circular economy. Every day, new ideas and new modes of production based on this model take shape. To bring these initiatives to fruition and fundamentally transform our economy, we need to pick up the pace. The fruit of a rigorous process, this Circularity Gap Report provides us with our first quantifiable portrait of Montréal’s economy. It is an essential tool for mobilising Montréal's entrepreneurial forces around our ambitious goals for an ecological and economic transition.

– Marie-Andrée Mauger, Responsible for Ecological transition and the Environment on the Executive Committee at Ville de Montréal

Thanks to this report, the Ville de Montréal now has an initial assessment of its performance in terms of its material consumption, carbon footprint and circularity. This assessment—which goes far beyond the City's boundaries by including the complete life cycle of materials consumed by citizens—is an essential step in identifying and prioritising avenues for improvement. The links between the material footprint and carbon footprint presented in the report are highly instructive on the role of circular economy strategies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

– François Saunier, M.Sc.A., Deputy Director at the International Reference Center for Life Cycle Assessment and Sustainable Transition (CIRAIG) at Polytechnique Montréal

In 2021, RECYC-QUÉBEC launched the Circularity Gap Report Quebec with Circle Economy, with the aim of inspiring and accelerating the transition to a circular economy. We're delighted to see that the transition is now continuing at the metropolitan level with the publication of Montréal’s own Circularity Gap Report, accompanied by a variety of actions to implement. RECYC-QUÉBEC is pleased to contribute to this initiative. We salute the Ville de Montréal's initiative, which continues to demonstrate its leadership in the field, and which we hope will inspire other municipalities to follow suit.

– Emmanuelle Géhin, President & CEO at RECYC-QUÉBEC

Venturing beyond local borders to elevate Montréal’s circularity

Montréal’s residents use fewer materials than the average Canadian

The city’s carbon footprint is 13 tonnes per capita

Montreal's circular indicators set

Local consumption leaves a global footprint

Five visions for a circular Montréal

methodology

The next stop in Montréal’s circular journey

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endorsers

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