When the City of Victoria asked residents what size trash bin they’d like, staff predicted one-quarter of households would choose the smallest, cheapest bin.
As it turns out, relatively few people want this option.
Only 10 per cent of the 14,000 respondents to the city’s mail-in survey chose the small, 80-litre bin. They will pay $168 a year under the city’s new waste-collection service, due to start early in 2013.
Most people (75 per cent of the respondents) are willing to pay $15 more per year to get the mid-size 120-litre bin. Six per cent of people chose the largest bin, with a capacity of 180 litres. They’ll pay $204 annually for the service.
In January, residents will receive a new standardized trash container from the city, as well as a separate bin for kitchen scraps. Households that did not respond to the survey will receive the mid-size trash bin. Both bins will be collected once every two weeks, starting Feb. 4.
With the new system comes another change. Trash collectors will still retrieve bins from backyards, but will no longer return them there.
The city has received 122 requests for specialized service from people unable to wheel their cans themselves.
rholmen@vicnews.com