San Diego grand jury calls for free bin replacements

The San Diego County grand jury issued a report suggesting city officials bring back a policy of replacing residents’ curbside collection bins for free, a report by KGTV says. The grand jurors opened an investigation after noticing dilapidated bins in the city’s residential areas.

According to the report, the investigation found that 12,000 bins out of 304,000 residences that receive curbside collection had to be replaced as the owner’s expense in the last fiscal year ending June 30, 2016. In the year before, almost 7,400 needed to be replaced, and 6,500 the year before that.

Exposure to sunlight causes the bins to deteriorate and cold weather causes them to become brittle, the report says. Some are cracked when automated arms on a collection truck grabs them or when they are overfilled by owners.

The city received 6,800 complaints that bins were broken by collection vehicles between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, the report says. Replacing the bins out of pocket costs a resident between $70 and $95 for the bin and $25 for delivery.

Bin replacement was free until 2008, the report says, after the recession hit. Green and blue recycling bins are currently being replaced by the city for free from city recycling revenues.

Three City Council members began using their office funds to pay the replacement fee for residents who complained, the disabled, seniors and low-income residents, according to the report. The offices allocated the money without being publicized, which can cause inequity, or verification of whether the replacement was qualified.

The grand jury said in the report that they believe the city should reinstate free bin replacement and that the endeavor of replacing bins for free for low-income residents, the disabled and seniors should continue only if the program’s existence is publicized and applicants are qualified.

City officials have until June 12 to respond to the grand jury’s report.