A design project reframes Montreal's street collectors and binners as essential workers

A Montreal-based non-profit and a Toronto ad agency have launched a project aimed at making life easier for the city's binners to change how people see them.

The Dignity Bag is exactly what it sounds like: a purpose-built carrier for collecting refundable containers, designed in collaboration with binners. Created by No Fixed Address in partnership with Les Valoristes Coopérative de Solidarité, the bag holds up to 240 aluminum cans, features quick-release drawstrings, adjustable straps, and high-visibility reflective elements for safety.

Beyond functional design, the project positions binners—the people who collect cans and bottles from public bins across the city—as an essential part of Montreal's recycling infrastructure rather than people simply scraping by. In Montreal alone, binners recover millions of aluminum cans annually, ensuring materials actually make it back into the circular economy.