THUNDER BAY – The era of automated garbage pick-up has arrived.
Or at least the means to make it happen.
The city will begin delivery of the pre-assembled wheeled garbage cans on Monday, dropping them off at 25 per cent of Thunder Bay households, a process expected to take several weeks, leading up to the week of Sept. 22, when the carts will be put into use.
The remainder of the carts, about 30,000, will be delivered next spring.
“We’re excited to improve waste collection services to the residents of Thunder Bay with the new automated garbage cart program,” said Jason Sherband, manager of solid waste and recycling services. “A cart-based garbage collection system is an action item of the city’s long-term solid waste management strategy.”
Residents who receive their carts in 2025 are reminded not to start using them before the week of Sept. 22, but are also reminded that after automated pick-up begins, garbage set out in regular garbage cans or bags will no longer be collected.
The new bins are similar in design but smaller than the recycling bins issued by GFL last year, Sherband told Newswatch in an interview earlier this month.
The city is moving toward a provincially mandated organics program, likely to start in the fall of 2026, which will reduce garbage collection to once every two weeks.
Currently trash is picked up weekly.
According to Sherband, roughly 43 per cent of household garbage is food and organic waste, and residents should see their garbage decrease greatly in volume.
“When you've got the proper leaf and yard program and you've got the green bin program going and you're participating in recycling, the reality is there shouldn't be much garbage left,” said Sherband.
For more information, and to view a map showing which streets will receive carts in this initial program rollout, visit www.thunderbay.ca/garbagecarts/ .
Collection questions or cart issues? Contact the City’s Dispatch at 807-625-2195.
– With files from Gary Rinne
