Torontonians know these trash cans are a problem. Are solar compacting bins a solution?

Toronto has a trash problem with garbage overflowing onto streets and blowing into surrounding areas, and some councillors are now calling on the city to explore a new solution — smart, solar-powered compacting bins for both garbage disposal and recycling.

According to the Rochman Lab at the University of Toronto, the city generated 15,785 tons of litter in 2020, the majority of which was leakage from a poorly functioning waste management system, including trash that just didn't make it securely into a garbage can.

"It's not a sexy solution to think about having fancier garbage cans," said Chelsea Rochman, a University of Toronto professor in ecology and evolutionary biology who runs the Rochman Lab and the U of T trash team.

"But I think it's critical."

The bins would use solar panels and sensors to compact the waste, significantly increasing capacity in the bins and decreasing the frequency of waste collection trips needed because they'd fill less quickly. 

"They just have a tighter fitting lid and they can pack the trash … Those are two incredibly good features," said Rochman.

While we need to find other solutions such as reducing our use of plastic, "garbage cans are the foundational piece of a sound waste management system," she said. 

"Without garbage cans that keep the garbage in the garbage, we are creating a …  simple and obvious leakage point for that litter to be getting into the environment."

The city's Infrastructure and Environment Committee has unanimously called on council to direct staff to return with a report on the new solar bins. Such a report, they say, would help them decide whether to go ahead with a pilot project using the bins in one area of the city. The motion is expected to go before council as early as Tuesday.

"It's about time we started to look at real solutions to the state of our garbage bins and not just do Band-Aid solutions," said Coun. Mike Colle, who represents Ward 8, Eglinton-Lawrence.

Colle, who moved the motion at committee, says he's been fielding calls and as a jogger has been seeing the situation deteriorate himself for months.

"I got a call today about a bin… overflowing, broken, next to a rat hole. So the rats were basically coming out of the rat hole to feed out of our garbage every day," he told CBC Toronto on Monday.

He says the city is already studying issues with the current bins and waste management process, but he wanted staff to place a bigger focus on solutions when they reported back. Looking at other jurisdictions, solar-powered compacting bins looked promising, he says. 

Saint John, N.B., Montreal and Winnipeg are ahead of Toronto in trying out the solar bins, and other cities around the world are also using them.