Clothing donation bins allowed back in Vancouver
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2019 18:02:51 +0000
Clothing donation bins will be returning to Vancouver, after the city approved new safety criteria.
The bins were removed earlier this year following fourth deaths, the latest in January, when a 34-year-old man died after becoming trapped in the access point of a Community Living Society bin in Ambleside Park in West Vancouver.
The city said clothing donation bins will again be permitted in Vancouver if the operator has a business licence and written certification from a BC-accredited professional engineer stating the construction, design and operation of the donation bin is safe.
Operators are also responsible for ensuring tidy premises and safe operations of their donation bin through regularly scheduled maintenance and servicing, the city said, in a news release Wednesday.
Clothing donation bins help divert used clothing and textiles from the landfill or incinerator, provide benefits to local charities and those in need, and support the city’s zero waste goal, the city said.
In July 2018, a woman died in a Developmental Disabilities Association bin at the West Point Grey Community Centre in Vancouver; in March 2016, a 20 year old man died in a clothing bin in Surrey and in September 2015 a woman died in a bin in Pitt Meadows. One man died in a bin in Ontario last year, while another died in Calgary in 2017. There have also been deaths across the U.S. and around the world.
ticrawford@postmedia.com
-With files from David Carrigg