After years of being kicked to the curb a green bin program is finally getting underway in the City of London.
The city began delivering green bins to households in west London Monday.
In all, approximately 120,000 green bins will be delivered over the next two months to households that currently place garbage and recycling at the curb.
Deborah McCombs, who lives in the Byron neighbourhood, was excited to see her green bin dropped off at the bottom of her driveway.
“Well I like the idea, I’m one for all this recycle stuff,” she said.
The city is catching up with cities across Canada that have long had green bin programs in place.
It’s an idea that in one form or another has been debated at city hall over several years, and over a number of different council terms.
Resistance over cost and logistics have often trumped environmental concerns, with a green bin program never coming to pass. A plan finally begin coming together over the past three years, said Director of Climate Change, Environment, and Waste Management, Jay Stanford.
“Council has had many priorities over the years,” he explained. “We were just grateful when they finally approved it financially. We then had to deal with the pandemic. We then had to deal with the supply chain issue associated with the pandemic. But the most important thing is we’re here on day one of the green bins being delivered. That’s what we’ve been waiting for.”
The cost of the program is about $4-million per year, or about $30 to $35 per household per year.
Ward 9 Coun. Anna Hopkins, in whose ward green bin delivery began, said she’s confident Londoners will embrace the green bin program.
“Change does take time, but there is a will,” she said. “Londoners do want to contribute to reducing waste in our landfill and I know the city is there, the city staff are very supportive of making a success of this program.”
The green bin is used to collect organic food scraps to be processed into compost. The bin comes with a smaller bin to be kept in the kitchen area, which can then be dumped into the larger bin.
There are some important changes to take note of once the program is fully up and running.
Green bin and blue box collection will be once a week, while garbage collection will shift to once every two weeks. The green bins delivered to each household will come with a collection guide and schedule, however, bdiapers, incontinence products, and pet waste will not be permitted in green bins.
The program is expected to divert about 10 per cent of waste from London’s landfill.
“Yes I love this idea,” said McCombs as she looked through the contents of her new green bin.
Londoners are asked to hold onto their green bins until the program begins, the week of Jan. 15, 2024.
A green bin pilot program for apartments will be launched later this year.
