Green bins given tentative start date for London, Ont.

The long-awaited arrival of the green bin program for London, Ont., residents finally has a tentative date.

In a report going before a city committee next week, London staff are recommending the green bin program get underway beginning the week of Jan. 15, 2024, with the actual bins being distributed starting mid-October.

Jay Stanford, the city’s director of climate change, environment and waste management, tells Global News he has been dreaming of the day for a long time.

“We’re making huge steps towards the launch of the program,” Stanford said.

Stanford says basic food waste such as leftover baked goods, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, meat, bones and some food soluble paper products like napkins will be accepted in a green bin.

And with the new environmentally friendly program would come a new collection schedule for Londoners to adjust to.

Moving away from the current once-a-week-plus-a-day schedule, recycling and green bin collection would occur weekly, except for statutory holidays, starting Jan. 15.

But to accommodate the uptick in recycling and green bin collection, staff say garbage collection – including diapers and pet waste – would drop from 42 times a year to 26, or biweekly.

In the report, staff say the proposed change in scheduling aligns with other Ontario municipalities, including Barrie, Guelph, Ottawa and Niagara.

While other municipalities do biweekly garbage collection, a 2021 survey of Londoners indicated around half of residents were concerned that missing a garbage day meant it would be four weeks between collections.

Around a third of residents expressed concern over too much garbage accumulating over two weeks, with 38 per cent saying that while they had concerns, they supported the change. A quarter of residents expressed no concerns.

When it comes to not allowing pet waste in green bins, Stanford says they want to keep the program as simple as possible to help people get into the routine of using it, comparing it to when blue bins for recycling were introduced years ago.

“You have to get into new habits, and that takes some time and effort,” Stanford said, adding that he expects mistakes will be made along the way by residents.

“We will be working closely with Londoners to help educate and correct.”

Once people are up to speed with the program, and if there is an appetite to include pet waste among residents and council, Stanford says they have the ability to include it.

The road to getting green bins has been long for London, with a pilot program originally running over 10 years. While that pilot project did not lead to a permanent plan, Stanford says he believes now is finally the time.

“The green bin was just not as high as other priorities on council’s agenda, but that has all changed,” Stanford said.

Should the civic works committee and then council later this month approve the plan, the city plans to roll out promotional and educational information beginning next month. The green bins and program information would be delivered to households between mid-October and mid-December.

While everything for the program would be in place by mid-December, staff say starting it less than two weeks before the holiday break would not be ideal, thus the kickoff being pushed into the new year.

Stanford says the green bin remains will be transformed into agricultural fertilizer on farmlands near London. Because it will be used for farmland, Stanford said the phrase “if in doubt, keep it out” will be necessary.

Members of the civic works committee will discuss the report and recommendations beginning at 12 p.m. Tuesday.