Brantford looks to license clothing donation bins

CTV Kitchener: Clothing bin licences Fed up with vandalism, Brantford is thinking about issuing licences for charity clothing donation bins. Priya Mann explains.

Vandalism, thefts, garbage and fires are just some of the complaints the City of Brantford is hearing about clothing donation bins.

Even some of the companies that maintain the bins say things are getting out of hand.

“We’ve had some serious issues with thefts, vandalism,” Mike Geddes tells CTV News.

“It takes time and money to replace these things.”

Geddes is the operations manager for the Kidney Foundation of Canada’s clothing bin program in Brantford.

While the Kidney Foundation is a registered charity, many of the organizations that dot Brantford with clothing donation bins are not.

In some cases in Ontario, clothes donated to the boxes have been found to have been sold overseas.

Brantford councillors have decided to highlight the difference between charity bins and other clothing donation bins, and to crack down on some of the issues surrounding the bins.

“We’re not going to ban the private sector, but we’re going to make it clear which are charity and which are not,” says Coun. David Neumann.

“These bins just seem to appear willy-nilly on private property, on city property. No one asked permission.”

Under the city’s proposal, bins would be limited to a maximum of three in each of the city’s five wards.

“It’ll restore the community to the good-looking community it was before all of these started being set up where people didn’t want them,” Neumann says.

Neumann says he’s seen some bins pop up on properties without the consent of the property owner.

City officials say at least four bins have been set on fire since June, and police have responded to more than 20 bin-related incidents over the same timeframe.

Geddes says the Kidney Foundation doesn’t operate that way, but he’s nonetheless in favour of the city’s proposed changes.

“I believe it’ll help. I think it’s a good thing,” he says.

The city’s proposed fees for bin operators are an initial fee of $457, plus $100 per bin, with an annual renewal fee of $208.

Charity organizations would see a one-time fee of $100, plus $25 per bin.

Councillors are expected to vote on the issue next week.