Monday marked the start of distribution for around 120,000 green bins, a major step in the largely anticipated Green Bin program in London, Ont.
The program, the most significant change to waste collection in over 25 years in London, was approved earlier this year.
“It’ll take about two months to distribute all the green bins across London to people who receive curbside garbage and recycling pickup,” said Jay Standford, director of climate change, environment, and waste management for the City of London.
“It’s about 3,000 green bins delivered a day.”
The green bins will also come with a kitchen container, a pickup calendar, and a guide on how to take part in the program with the new collection dates starting next year.
“The important part to understand is that although the green bins are being delivered over the next couple of months, it can’t be used until early January 2024,” Standford said.
He said the kitchen containers provided with the new green bins are “designed for convenience” with the purpose of collecting food scraps and organic waste.
“The kitchen container is meant to help separate the food from any regular garbage,” Standford said. “It’s a very convenient item to place under the sink or even on the countertop as a reminder to put your food scraps there because they’ll now be put to good use through the Green Bin program.”
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Some Byron residents were the first to receive their green bins as crews started deliveries on Monday.
“The distribution company looked at the map of London and just decided to start in Zone A, which includes Ward 9,” Standford told Global News. “We will move through the city going through zone-by-zone until all six zones are completed.”
Local Ward Coun. Anna Hopkins was among those gathering to witness the first round of green bins distributed to some of her constituents on Monday.
“I’m really excited that this day has finally happened,” she told Global News.
“I’ve been on council for nine years and the first council I was on, we had big conversations and wanted to implement the green bins back then,” Hopkins said. “Unfortunately, the money was not there but last council decided to put it in the budget.”
The introduction of green bins has been a more than decade-long process in London, as a pilot project ran for a year in 2011.
Hopkins said that supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also resulted in delays in implementing the program.
“But we’re finally here, which is really good news that brings a smile on my face,” she said, stressing the benefits of the green bins in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Londoners are usually ahead of us a little bit,” Hopkins said. “They want this program; they’re going to make it work and we’re all going to be a part of reducing that footprint, and it’s going to be something that we can all be proud of as a city.”
Speaking with Global News on Monday, Mayor Josh Morgan said that with the bins will come an anticipated “learning curve” for participating residents.
“It’ll be a little bit of a learning curve for those who’ve never used one before on exactly what they can put in it, and so all that information will be provided to Londoners,” he said.
Starting Jan. 15, both green bins and recycling will be picked up at the curb every week while garbage will be collected every other week.
Following changes to curbside pickup, Londoners will now be holding onto garbage for an additional four to six days compared to the current system.
However, collection day will remain the same each week between statutory holidays and yard waste collection will still occur every five weeks during the spring and summer and every two to three weeks in the fall.
More information can be found on the City of London’s website.
— with files from Global News’ Kelly Wang and Marshall Healey.
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