Recent years, the new type of garbage bins used on the streets of New York City come from Canada, and the federal government announced on February 1st that a 25% tariff would be imposed on imports from Canada. This new tax policy, if implemented, could lead to a significant increase in the cost of importing garbage bins.
For a long time, the New York City Department of Sanitation has been using green metal wire mesh garbage bins manufactured by the New York State prison system. However, these traditional garbage bins are prone to allowing rats to enter and often cause street pollution due to garbage leakage. In order to address these issues, the city government held a design competition in 2019 and ultimately selected a new type of garbage bin manufactured in Quebec, Canada, which began to be gradually replaced in the city center in 2023.
Each new garbage bin costs about $1,000, consisting of a metal and concrete shell and a lightweight plastic inner bin. The top is equipped with a crossbar to prevent people from disposing of large pieces of garbage, designed to meet the sanitation department’s needs for rodent prevention, leak prevention, and convenient operation for sanitation workers.
The city plans to replace approximately 23,000 metal garbage bins citywide, with 5,000 new garbage bins already in use. However, the tariff measures may lead to an increase in procurement costs and even affect delivery times, thereby delaying the replacement of old garbage bins.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced on January 31 that tariffs would be imposed on China, Mexico, and Canada, citing that these three countries are “facilitating the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.” She stated, “The amount of fentanyl seized at the US-Mexico border in recent years is enough to kill tens of millions of Americans, so the President is determined to take this action.”