Improved green bins hailed as ‘new offensive’ against raccoons

Raccoons “literally sit around on people’s porches waiting for a buffet” of organic waste in the old, easily popped bins, Tory told reporters after arriving for the event on a garbage truck.

It’s time for a “new offensive” — bigger bins with a locking dial on top, Tory said.

Asked what he’ll do if he loses the bet with the cunning critters, Tory was hesitant to concede the possibility of defeat, but said: “We’d find some way to strike back.”

Almost a half-million bins will be rolled out across Toronto over the next 18 months.

U.S.-based Rehrig Pacific Co. won the $31-million contract to design and supply them, plus 10 years of maintenance.

A city waste collector demonstrated how the new bins can be grabbed and dumped by the mechanical arm on garbage trucks, operated by one person.

They can be put out locked because they automatically open when the arm tips them almost upside down.

The city is collecting and recycling the old bins, although residents can ask to keep them for personal use.

Agincourt Dr. homeowner Rhoda Potter was among the first to receive a new bin. She has retired the old one along with a hunk of concrete and bungee cord that was her makeshift locking mechanism.

“I hope the new bin will work. It looks like it will, with the new technology,” Potter said.

Derick Foster, an Atlanta-based industrial designer for Rehrig Pacific, spent time studying raccoon behaviour before creating and testing the bin.

“You have the biggest raccoons I’ve ever seen up here,” he marvelled. “I think your big problem is going to be what are they going to eat now?”

Tory’s response: “The diets of raccoons is not my problem.”