Spokane replaces downtown garbage cans it rented for $106,000 per year

Sometimes trying to “work smarter, not harder” accomplishes neither.

Spokane has removed its downtown garbage cans and will be replacing them throughout March in a bid to spend less money on a strategy that tried – and failed – to save the city money.

Since around 2018, the city has used “smart trash cans” from Massachusetts-based Bigbelly Waste Management for public use downtown. They were “smart” because they’re equipped with solar-powered devices that would signal city staff when the cans were full, and city officials had hoped the units would cut down on staffing requirements because they would no longer be emptying half -full cans.

There were two complications with this plan. First, the city didn’t actually own the garbage cans and instead leased them from Bigbelly at a cost of $106,000 a year. Second, officials hoping to increase efficiency forgot something vital: People often don’t do things the way they should. In this case, public trash cans are often treated more like a suggestion than a rule.

“We often encounter large items placed outside of the container, which requires frequent monitoring and defeats the benefits of the telematics,” wrote Public Works spokeswoman Kirstin Davis.

The Bigbelly cans will be replaced for a one-time cost of just over $200,000, saving the city roughly $367,000 over the next five years alone. Every unit will have trash and recycling compartments, and some will be moved to areas with heavier foot traffic.

One thing will be lost in the transition, officials acknowledge: There are no plans at this time to put the smiling faces of downtown business owners on the new trash cans, as was the case on the Bigbelly units.