Trash bin uniformity coming soon to your very neighborhood

Mayor Eric Adams’ war on rats continues with the city’s franchise and concession review committee’s April 8 decision: all residential properties will be required to own a city-branded waste bins by 2026.

City-branded waste bins will be available to residents at a steeply discounted rate. Typically 65-gallons, the waste bins most homeowners have on their curbs now cost $100 or more. The city bins will be priced according to gallon size: 30 to 35 gallon bins will be $45.88, and 45 to 50 gallon will be priced at $53.01 Oversized bins, listed as holding 60 to 65 gallons, will be $60.08.

The committee drafted a concession agreement with Duramax Holdings, a North Carolina company, which has been granted sole rights to manufacture the city-branded bins.

These bins are vital to the mayor’s initiative because they will also aid in issues sanitation workers experience lifting heavy trash or grabbing dirty trash bags out of piles on the sidewalk. Newly constructed bins are required to be lightweight with hinged lids and designed to be easy to dump. The design also includes an anti-graffiti finish that will allow for any painted-on color to be easily removed with power washing. Each bin will be assigned a separate color according to refuse. The separate bins will be for mixed paper recycling; metal, glass and plastic recycling; organics; and all other waste.

Vincent Gragnani of the city’s sanitation department said this project has been thoroughly conceived. In October of last year, the city announced its new plan to bin trash. At the same time, the city also put out a call for vendors capable of producing the bins they were looking for.

“We are going to retrofit many of our trucks with mechanical tippers, and that requires a standard bin,” Gragnani said. “This will make collection cleaner, quicker, and also safer for sanitation workers.”

Riverdale resident Daniella Fuchs said raccoons have gotten into her trash in the past so, a few years ago, she was forced to buy new bins. Those bins are still new, so Fuchs said she doesn’t need or want another new set of bins now.

Furthering the city’s arguments that containerization helps to fight off the presence of rodents was a pilot program in Hamilton Heights, which the city claims has caused a 68 percent drop in rat sighting complaints in the area.

Another Riverdale resident, Joy Langer, said, although she has never had problems with animals in her trash, she has no problem with the idea of getting new bins, though it would be nice if they came with a tax break.

“I mean I’d rather not pay,” Langer said, “but safety and cleanliness is important. If the composting bins are free why wouldn’t the (new trash bins) be free?”

The mayor’s smart composting bin program last year gave away free bins that would allow residents to place compost waste curbside for city pickup.

The city’s investment in composting is another attempt at ensuring trash bags and food waste are kept off the street.

Daniel Rowen, chair of Community Board 8’s environment and sanitation committee, said he wonders what the new Duramax bins means for the composting bins the city just finished handing out.

According to Gragnani, Adams has been clear about his goal with the trash.

“Get every single one of the black bags of trash off our sidewalks, after 50 years of letting them attract rats and leak smelly garbage juice all over the place,” Gragnani said.

The city’s timeline sets autumn of this year for all residential buildings with up to nine units to set out trash in containers with secure lids.

The city defines units as living spaces, so this ruling would include all houses.

By the summer 2026, all residents will be required to set out their trash curbside in city-branded bins.