Locked lids key to limiting litter: city

Winnipeg will soon have locked garbage bins in high-traffic areas downtown, in an effort to cut down on unsightly piles of trash.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the city is set to award a contract for the new devices this summer, which will allow 121 new locking trash and recycling bins to start rolling out in a few months.

“That’s something I wanted to see to make it more difficult for individuals to tamper with garbage or recycle receptacles throughout our city, especially downtown,” he said.

“If you drive down or you walk down Portage Avenue or Main Street … you see the lids open and the contents laying all over the place.”

The mayor said the devices will have sturdy enough lids to ensure only city crews can easily empty them, while anyone can still add trash to them.

“I think the way our city looks really has a big impact on the way we feel about ourselves. So, I encourage everybody … to take care of your property, to clean up. If there’s garbage on the sidewalk in front of your place, don’t wait for someone else to pick it up … And the city has to lead the way in doing our part,” Gillingham said.

The mayor said the devices will be installed permanently and shouldn’t add much time to garbage collection.

“I’m willing to ask our staff to take an extra 10 seconds to deal with a locked bin to empty it. And the payoff is, we get a cleaner community where people can’t tamper with garbage bins and go through them and dump the contents all over the place,” he said.

Gillingham first revealed he had asked city officials to price out options for locked bins in September.

At the time, an apparent increase in garbage had been cast into the spotlight after downtown employees told the Free Press they repeatedly spotted piles of trash, feces or drug paraphernalia after cleaning crews couldn’t keep up with the growing mess.

In an email Thursday, a city spokesperson said the waste receptacles can only be opened by key. The devices will replace standard bins on Main between Stradbrook and Higgins avenues, and on Portage between Sherbrook Street and Main.

“Once the tender is awarded, it is expected it will take approximately 70 days for the receptacles to be constructed and delivered,” city spokeswoman Pam McKenzie wrote.

McKenzie said city staff have anecdotally noticed an increase in trash bins being spilled onto the street in recent years.

The city did not provide a cost estimate for the new locked bins.

Tom Ethans, executive director of Take Pride Winnipeg, said he’s hopeful locked bins will keep litter better contained.

“Basically, whatever we can do to mitigate people dumpster diving and spewing litter all over the place is great … Hopefully, it does lessen the amount of litter people toss out onto the street,” he said.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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