Summary#
Montréal city council unanimously set the city’s position in favour of awarding Recyc-Matelas inc. a 28-month contract to collect, transport and recover mattresses and box springs from the Montréal agglomeration’s ecocentres. This is an orientation, not the final contract award: the agglomeration council makes the final decision at a later meeting. City staff say the goal is to expand recovery beyond the Saint-Laurent pilot and reduce landfill waste.
- The proposed contract is worth $734,690.25, taxes included. Recyc-Matelas was the lowest compliant bidder.
- The service would expand gradually to all seven agglomeration ecocentres during 2026 and 2027.
- The contractor must collect within 48 hours of a request, unless otherwise agreed. It must not send collected mattresses or box springs for disposal.
- The contractor must separate the items into materials and prioritize reuse, recycling and energy recovery, in that order, before disposal. It must provide an annual report on recovery rates and destinations.
- The city must evaluate Recyc-Matelas’s performance at the end of the contract.
What it means for you#
- Residents: The decision does not change ecocentre access rules. It concerns how mattresses and box springs brought to the ecocentres are handled.
- Agglomeration municipalities: The agglomeration would pay the full contract cost. City staff say the service is intended to cover all seven ecocentres, introduced gradually.
- Recyc-Matelas: If the agglomeration council awards the contract, the company must collect, transport and process the items under the contract’s requirements.
- City administration: The city’s Service de l’environnement et de la transition écologique handles this agglomeration responsibility and would oversee the service and assess the contractor.
Money#
The proposed contract costs $734,690.25, taxes included, over 28 months; the materials do not give a net-of-rebates total.
- The listed costs are $104,956.08 in 2026, $314,867.09 in 2027 and $314,867.09 in 2028.
- The city plans to reallocate its 2026 budget to absorb an estimated cost increase of $95,838.89, net of tax rebates. For 2027 and later, a recurring budget adjustment of $132,777.85 is needed and was prioritized in the budget process then under way.
- There is no planned price adjustment or contingency budget. The cost is assigned to the agglomeration.
- Recyc-Matelas bid $734,690.25; the other compliant bid was $902,841.19. The winning bid was 11.25% below the city’s $827,820 estimate.
What is unclear#
- The materials do not give the contract’s exact start and end dates or describe any renewal option.
- The city had applied for RECYC-QUÉBEC funding for storage infrastructure, but the materials do not say whether it will receive that funding.
- The number of items actually collected and recovered will depend on how the service is expanded and used; the stated figure of up to 45,000 items is an estimate, not a guarantee.
Case for#
- City staff say the Saint-Laurent pilot diverted more than 4,600 mattresses and box springs—over 101 tonnes—from disposal. Expanding the service could build on that experience.
- The contract requires recovery of materials and sets an order that favours reuse and recycling over energy recovery and disposal.
- Recyc-Matelas was the lowest compliant bidder, at a price below the city’s estimate.
Case against#
- Only two of the six companies that obtained the tender documents submitted compliant bids. The materials do not explain why the other four did not bid.
- The contract is substantially more costly than the earlier pilot contract. The city expects savings in disposal and transport costs, but the materials do not quantify those savings.
- The possible diversion of up to 45,000 items depends on a gradual expansion across the ecocentres; the materials do not establish how much will actually be recovered.