I did a community cleanup in my municipality (East of Toronto) last weekend. I can tell you with 100% certainty that it doesn't matter how many bins you have, or how state-of-the-art they are, or how accessible they are, because people will purposely throw garbage on the floor because they can.
Enforce littering bylaws, and in addition to a very hefty fine ($10,000+), have them do mandatory community cleanup for at least a year.
I agree, I go out once a week either Sunday or Saturday for two hours and clean up parts of the trails in and around my area.
Its amazing how much trash and litter is along the trails, I can get on average a extra large 140L clear bag filled in 2 hours and only walk about 30-50 meters.
Where I find the issues is though is not entirely with the bins themselves (though they can use improvement). The issue really is on waste collection, for example bins are always overflowing and whenever waste is collected most of the time what falls out during collection is left to blow away becoming litter. This litter is not collected by the city and instead falls to local residents to pick up.
Street garbage collection trucks and the large bin collection trucks, when collecting trash cause a good chunk of trash to become litter. I think this collection process needs a redesign to prevent waste from falling out.
What we need is bins like the ones shown bellow. These are fully sealed and underground. These should replace the large bins behind warehouses and plazas. The same should also be implemented in parks and along trails and sidewalks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHZs72eGxXo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGVfAlrbM_8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JtoSafhvLM
These just seem like more expensive bins to be destroyed by trash raiders (including racoons) and engarged alcoholics. I agree we need to replace the current one with a stonger model, but these don't look tough enough.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Chow said the modifications to the sidewalk litter bins improve their durability and functionality and address those concerns.
Toronto piloted the enhancements to the older model bins that were tested and monitored in four locations, between December 2023 and January 2024.
The new enhancements to the bins include a wider opening, to reduce the likelihood of disposed items getting stuck, a stronger self-closing hinge, reinforcement of the frame and doors for added durability and adjustments to the locking mechanism.
The new design also includes two garbage options per bin which reduces the likelihood of overflows and contamination of recyclable materials, the city said.
The city will also be hiring additional staff to inspect the bins, gather data and report overflowing and maintenance issues for a period of six months to define trends and recommendations for optimal collection frequency, it added.
But Bradford questioned why the city was "rushing to unveil" the newly designed bins before consulting council or Torontonians.
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