By Jasmine Solomonescu
Ottawa residents can now recycle their paper, glass and plastic on the go, but they will see more advertising on city streets in return for the service.
This month, 100 new bins with separate compartments for trash and recyclable materials were installed throughout the city as part of a pilot project. The stainless steel containers have about three times the capacity of regular city waste receptacles, which means they can be emptied less often at less cost to the city and reduce landfill use.
Yet some are already wondering whether the benefits of the bins outweigh the visual blight caused by the 76-cm by 152-cm ads they carry.
“I’m glad it’s just a pilot project because we need to get some public input before we go ahead (with a long-term contract),says Somerset City Coun. Elisabeth Arnold.
Arnold, who voted against a proposal for a extended contract with OMG media, the Toronto-based company providing the bins, says she is concerned about how people will respond to the prominent roadside advertising, and also about whether the hefty containers will create obstructions to pedestrian traffic and cyclists.
“It’s basically a municipal service (to provide the bins),” says Arnold. “We should find a way to do it that doesn’t create an urban design disaster.”
Erika Bencik says she is glad there is now a recycling bin just metres from where she usually parks her bike.
“It makes me a lot more likely to recycle,” says the 25-year-old tour guide. With bins on the way to and from work you can just throw whatever you’ve got in. It’s convenient.”
This is not the first time the city has experimented with recycling in public spaces. In 1994 and 1995 it installed containers at busy intersections and in parks, but discontinued them when the budget for litter collection was cut in 1996.
Nor is advertising on street fixtures new to Ottawa. Brightly colored ads already beckon to drivers and pedestrians from bike racks, bus shelters and benches, but some think it’s time to draw the line.
“Everything is up for sale, for advertising,” says the executive director of the Somerset Heights Business Improvement Area, Gwen Toop. “Do we have to be constantly inundated with stuff?”
Stuff is not how Loredana Oliveti, vice-president of public relations for OMG media, sees her company’s product.
“It’s the advertising that’s making this program possible, says Oliveti. “It’s not just placing a billboard on the street, it’s providing a service to the community.”
According to a report by the city’s department of urban planning and public works, OMG media had approached the city with an offer to install and maintain (but not empty) 750 to 850 recycling bins at no cost.
In return, OMG media would have the right to sell the advertising space on the bins and share the revenues with the city. City council voted instead for the pilot project, which expires in December because regional amalgamation limits the city’s ability to sign long-term contracts. Ad revenues from the pilot project may amount to about $5,000.
It will be up to the council of the new City of Ottawa to decide, based on the results of the project, whether to pursue an extended contract for the bins.