New-and-improved sidewalk litter bins to hit the streets of Toronto

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Taking out the trash in the city should get easier – in public spaces anyway.

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Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has announced new-and-improved sidewalk litter bins, saying the modifications should improve their durability and functionality.

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“You’ve heard me say many times, ‘I need to clean up the mess!’ Well, this one is literal – literally, we need to clean up the mess,” Chow said at a news conference at Nathan Philips Square on Thursday.

“These new bins feature a wider bin opening of the mouth, there’s three (openings), so you can put in your garbage, your litter, without obstruction,” Chow said. “They’re also a more durable, stronger hinge, and we have new locking mechanisms. I’m sure they’ll defeat any raccoons in the local neighbourhood – hopefully.”

The enhancements, done at no cost to taxpayers with bin providers Astral footing the bill, were tested and monitored on four downtown bins in December 2023 and January 2024.

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Following the pilot program’s success, four additional bins will be installed this week with more than 1,000 expected to be installed in high-density areas by the end of the year plus 100 in the business area of downtown.

The bin enhancements include the introduction of two garbage options per bin rather than two recyclables – which reduces the likelihood of overflows and contamination of recyclable materials.

“In June, we’re putting some censors in (250) garbage bins, so we can tell when they’re almost at capacity,” Chow said.

The city will also be hiring additional staff to inspect street litter bins, gather data and report overflowing and maintenance issues for six months.

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The city’s litter operations run 20 hours a day, seven days a week.

There are more than 50,000 collections of litter bins per week and more than 99.9% of them are done proactively.

Astral will also do weekly inspections of the approximately 11,000 bins – twice weekly in high-density areas – on city streets.

Chow said the city signed a 20-year-contract with Astral in 2017 and she will consider extending that only starting in 2026 after some public disatifaction with the bins previously.

“I’ll take a very close look at it,” she said. “The fact that we are sending staff to inspect the (new-and-improved bins) every week for six months tells you we’re very serious in making sure these bins work.”

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