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PoCo asks biz, groups to remove donation bins

Port Coquitlam joins Port Moody, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Surrey and Delta to call for a voluntary removal of clothing bins from the community, for safety reasons.
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The city of Port Coquitlam showed this bin as an example of litter around a clothing donation bin.

Donation bins in Port Coquitlam are now gone in the wake of recent trapped deaths involving the containers around Metro Vancouver.

Last month, city council called for businesses and non-profit groups to voluntarily remove their clothing bins from private property.

The move affected about two dozen collection bins owned by Developmental Disabilities, Kinsight, Diabetes Canada and Inclusion BC as well as the Green Inspiration BC, a for-profit recycling business that supports environmental programs, the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Coast BC and BC/Yukon Legion branches.

Paula Jones, PoCo’s manager of bylaw services, told The Tri-City News the New Year’s Eve death of a 34-year-old man stuck in a bin in West Vancouver — plus three other deaths since 2015 — prompted city council to step in.

“In addition, the city was concerned about the increase in illegal dumping that occurs around the bins,” said Jones, who has a report before today's (Tuesday) committee of council meeting.

Developmental Disabilities and Green Inspiration have since altered the design of their container bins; however, Jones wrote in her report that “city staff do not have the expertise to assess the safety of the modified bins.”

Kathleen Powderley of Diabetes Canada also noted on its website it, too, is making retrofits to its bins to prevent injury and death.

Port Moody, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Surrey and Delta have also requested voluntary removal of donation bins while Pitt Meadows, West Vancouver and Vancouver last month ordered all bins be taken off public and private land.