New provincial rules for recycling may put a nice chunk of change back in the city coffers — offering the perfect seed money for a possible green bin program.

The Waste Free Ontario Act is changing the way recycling happens across the province, by putting the responsibility of paying for blue box recycling onto producers, rather than municipalities.

The full plan hasn’t been unveiled yet — the government is releasing bits and pieces at a time — but the move could bring between $1.5 million and $3.5 million back to the city, a new report indicates. That kind of cash would take a big bite out of the cost of operating a green bin program, pegged at $4.5 million in a 2016 business case.

“We don’t have a green bin program in place. Now, through this, we may have a funding source to offset the cost of a green bin program,” said Jay Stanford, the city’s environment and waste head.

London’s goal is to divert 60 per cent of residential waste from the landfill by 2022 — a provincial target — and tackling food waste is the only way to get there.

Right now, organics make up 35 per cent of Londoners’ garbage bags, Stanford said. London’s diversion rate currently sits at 45 per cent, and an organics program could help boost that rate to about 57 per cent, he said.

Coun. Stephen Turner said the recycling costs the city will recoup under the new plan is an opportunity to get moving on a green bin program. He wanted to see one implemented years ago.

“Ultimately the Waste Free Ontario Act is probably going to ban organics from landfills, which means now we’re going to have a new cost,” Turner said. “Every year that we wait to implement (an organics program) is another year the costs will go up. When it’s mandated that we can’t put organics into landfill anymore, our ability to negotiate a good tipping fee for our organic waste is going to be a lot more difficult.”

In a parallel project, Coun. Harold Usher is advocating for London to join the National Zero Waste Council. He’ll be sitting on that council as a representative for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and said it aligns perfectly with London’s work.

“It’s all to do with food waste, and product and packaging,” he said of the city’s efforts. “All the organic stuff, that’s what we’re working for over the next number of years.”

With less than a decade of capacity left at the city’s landfill, it’s clear London has to do something.

But a green bin program might not be the answer.

“When you really get to chat with people who might not be as green as some others, they do question whether this is the right place to be spending additional tax dollars,” Stanford said.

“I’m always very cognizant that people have lots of different priorities in this community.”

mstacey@postmedia.com

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