Donation bins becoming magnets for trash, charities complain

Some charities in Gatineau, Que., say their donation bins have become a dumping ground for people's unwanted garbage, and they're blaming a pair of city bylaws for making the problem worse.

Both bylaws came into effect in the last 18 months. The first bylaw restricts where charities can place their donation bins, while the second restricts the amount of large items such as furnitureresidents can leave at the curb on pickup day.

You're not helping us. You're costing us money.- Jean-Pierre Breton, St.-Vincent-de-Paul Riviera

That's led to fewer bins, and more junk piling up at the ones that remain.

"We're thinking of taking the boxes away," said Jean-Pierre Breton, president of the board of local charity St.-Vincent-de-Paul Riviera, whichsells donated clothing and donates the surplus to people in need

"It will save us time. It will save us costs, because right now we're paying a lot of money, [more than]$12,000 a year, just to get rid of garbage."

Fierce competition

It's been a tough time for donation bins in Gatineau.

Last year, a man was charged for allegedly stealingand repaintingdonation bins to collect and sell clothing for profit. In late 2017, several charities complained to council about the fierce competition for donations.

• Gatineau set to rein in donation bins
• Charges laid after stolen clothing donation bins found in storage

In response, the city banned bins owned by for-profit companies and limited non-profit organizations to three bins per property.

Under the bylaw that came into effect in early fall, non-profitswith bins on city property would also have to apply for new permits, which would be reviewed annually.

Few permits granted

According to data from the City of Gatineau, eight organizations applied for75 permits, but half were abandoned. So far, only six permits have been granted.

Breton, whose charity has had some of its bins out for 40 years,said the new process has been a struggle.

Parc-de-la-Montagne-Saint-Raymond Coun. Louise Boudrias acknowledgedthe new regime hasn't gone as planned.

"One thing that we wanted to do was to make sure that the private companies were not able to have those kind of bins that did work," she said in French."On the other hand, because of the new regulations, whatcitizens were doing is they were dropping off all sorts of things."

She said Big Brothers Big Sisters lost $5,000 permonth after removing their boxes.

"It was too expensive for them to manage," she said.

Illegal dumping decreasing

Plateau Coun. Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, president of the city's housing and environmental commission, said the city now allows charities to drop off sorted garbage for free.

Still, the councillor said the total amount of illegal dumping has decreased over the last year.

"That's exactly what we were expecting," she said. "For a few months there will be an increase and then it would decrease. That's what we've seen."

She said the city is open to reviewing the regulations but believes more time is needed to assess the situation.

Breton believes regulating the competition will help charities in the long run, but that the costs associated with hauling away garbage remain too much.

"We want people to give us what is good, [what still] has good value, so we can help our own people," Breton said."But to give us garbageempty paint cans, used tires, whatever no. You're not helping us. You're costing us money."