Supply chain issues delay start of London's green bin program

London's director of waste management says he can't guarantee when the city's green bin program will start. 

A report submitted to the Civic Works Committee says 13 of the 26 trucks needed to collect compost for the program won't be delivered until 2023. It's unknown when the manufacturer will be able to finish building the rest. 

"The challenge is that there's an appetite for this program," said Jay Stanford, director of climate change, environment and waste management for the City of London. 

"And it is in part very sad that we have a commitment from the council to implement it. We have the budget from council to implement it. The only missing ingredient right now is the vehicles to do so." 

Supply chain issues, caused by the pandemic, have led to a shortage in parts needed to build the trucks. 

The reasons for the shortage, according to the report, are associated with market and manufacturing recovery challenges, raw material shortages, sourcing of semiconductors, labour pressures, escalating backlogs and pandemic production delays. 

Stanford said only 13 truck chassis have been scheduled for production, with a final delivery date of April 2023. 

Production of the remaining 13 truck chassis is not yet scheduled. 

"The time when the vehicles will be actually built on the line, they don't have those build spots lined up for 2023. We're not going to hear about that until September of this year," said Stanford. 

"At that point, we'll come forward with a further update. And at that point, I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to say here's our green light date for the City of London to implement the program." 

London's green bin program has been in the works since 2018, as part of the city's 60 per cent Waste Diversion Action plan. 

Originally slated to launch in 2022, it has since faced numerous delays. 

Food waste that goes into the landfill creates methane gas. Stanford is urging Londoners to be mindful of their consumption habits as the city waits a year longer for its composting program to tentatively begin. 

"One of the most important things you can do is reduce the amount of food waste that is created," he said.