Finding a place to toss your trash on the streets of Tacoma is getting a little easier. The city is adding 120 new trash cans to public sidewalks, doubling the number of city-maintained trash bins.
“We've heard a lot of feedback consistently from the community, from businesses, that they want more public litter cans, and so this is a response to that,” said Lewis Griffith, who manages the solid waste management division under the Environmental Services Department for the city.
Griffith said the city is choosing where to put the new cans based on complaints they get to the city’s 311 line about litter.
“ These are new areas that didn't have cans, so we have the records of how much litter was identified previously. We'll see if that goes down. That's the hope,” Griffith said.
The new trash cans are a part of the city's Tidy-Up Tacoma program. That program is funded by a solid waste excise tax that started in 2023. The tax collects 6% of Tacomans’ monthly solid waste bill, and the rates for waste collection went up at the beginning of the year.
The new bins cost $2,148 each, before taxes and shipping, and include a wrap with Tidy-Up Tacoma branding and a coating that is supposed to deter people from doing graffiti. The cans are cheaper than previous models the city has used, which cost as much as $6,000 for solar-powered, compacting bins.
Maria Lee, a spokesperson for the city, said the fabricated metal boxes that are bolted into the ground and hold the trash receptacles are meant to improve durability, deter misuse and better protect against rodents. The city has been transitioning away from the open, ornamental design of previous trash bins.
The program also pays for staff to maintain the cans. Tidy-Up Tacoma hired two new solid waste workers this year, making it possible to do an additional, regular pick-up of the bins.
In 2025, the city’s public litter can crew hauled over 200,000 pounds of garbage, according to Lee.
“ I really feel like we're already seeing a difference in the city on what we're able to deal with. Otherwise, it just accumulates faster than we can deal with it,” said Thane White, a solid waste worker for the city of Tacoma.
City councilmember John Hines helped launch the Tidy-Up Tacoma effort and said it was a goal of his when he entered office to get more trash cans on the street. Hines has engaged in other litter-control efforts, such as changing the fine structure for illegal dumping.
“ We can do a lot to try to tell people not to do it, to increase fees and fines to punish people when they do it,” Hines said. “But I think the most important thing is, let's give them a place to put it, because I think most people walk around and they want to put their trash in the right spot.”
The city will be tracking how much waste is collected in the new bins, and will use that information to determine if more bins are needed.
“I'm hopeful that it's going to really bring down the amount of litter and trash people see,” Hines said.
Before the city started concentrated efforts on litter cleanup, community members had taken the problems of Grit City trash into their own hands.
Litter Free 253, a community organization that started providing litter cleanup kits to neighbors, was started by people in west Tacoma.
“ They saw a gap in services. They saw litter starting to become a problem,” said Andi Haug, who now chairs the group.
Litter Free 253 offers supplies to school groups and hosts an annual city clean-up in April for Earth Day.
Haug said she thinks the city is moving in the right direction, albeit slowly. Tidy-Up Tacoma has even taken over some of the programs Litter Free 253 created.
Haug said she is glad to see the city make other improvements, such as expanding its Call-2-Haul program to renters, making services to get rid of waste more equitable.
