London overhauling curbside garbage collection this year
Long-awaited changes in municipal waste collection are scheduled to begin in the second half of this year.
London’s confusing six-day rotation schedule for kerbside refuse collection will end, and same-day collection will begin as part of the planned launch of green bins for organic waste this autumn.
A consistent collection day would be welcomed by many Londoners including Dana Clark who lives in the Westmount area.
“Our neighbor over there on the right, he saves our sanity. We’re coming out and see if he got it out, we know it’s time to get it out!” Clark admitted.
City Hall has launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) for companies interested in processing green waste from the end of this year.
Documents related to the bid/tender process confirm several details of the green bin program:
Two-wheeled green bins hold 45 liters of organic waste. Paper/compostable garbage bags must be accepted by the processing facility. Green bins and blue boxes are collected weekly, other waste every two weeks. An estimated 14,000 to 20,000 tons of organic matter are collected each year
Originally scheduled for Fall 2021, green bins have been delayed twice due to the ongoing supply chain issues from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last summer, a report to the council said the maker of 26 specialized refuse collection vehicles could not estimate a manufacturing date for half of the vehicles the city is ordering.
“We’re still waiting and working with our truck manufacturer to get the final blueprint for the final 13 trucks needed for commissioning,” said Jay Stanford, director of climate change, environment and waste.
Stanford will receive an update from the manufacturer in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the municipal portion of the Blue Box recycling program will go to waste producers – saving taxpayers millions each year.
Collection and processing costs are currently split 50/50 between the municipality and companies that produce blue box waste.
On July 1st, producers gradually begin to take full responsibility for funding Blue Boxes in Ontario.
According to a report to the Civic Works Committee, “Preliminary estimates suggest that savings will range from $500,000 to eventually more than $4 million per year in 2026.”
Stanford added that shifting the cost to manufacturers could lead to a reduction in the amount of waste generated at source.
“It’s a system that industry will pay for, so they’re going to use all their ingenuity and science to make it a much stronger system,” he said.
