The City of Abbotsford won’t be following the lead of several other Lower Mainland cities that have banned donation bins.
Richmond, Delta, Burnaby, Vancouver and West Vancouver have all moved to ban the bins in the wake of several recent deaths.
Abbotsford council, though, signaled that they wouldn’t take such a step after the largest local user of the containers indicated that their “open chute” bins did not pose the same risk to people.
Eight people in Canada have died in incidents involving donation bins since 2015.
There are 35 clothing donation bins in Canada, 27 of which are operated by the Development Disabilities Association.
That group told the city that their bins don’t include pinch points, which means that anybody who enters the bin through the available open chute would be able to exit the container through the same hole.
The organization said its bins had been approved by Richmond, which was one of the communities that had implemented bans.
The Canadian Diabetes Association, which operates five bins, also told the city that they have modified their containers to eliminate the pinch points that have been blamed for several of the deaths.
In addition to those organizations, another bin is operated by Trans -Continental Textile Recycling. The staff report presented to council did not discuss the safety of that bin.
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