Raccoons who make a habit out of prying open green bins and feasting on the garbage inside may have to find another place to get a bite.

On Thursday the public works committee will vote on awarding Rehrig Pacific Company with a $31 million, 10-year contract to provide the city with a new generation of garbage bins that include a rodent resistant locking lid and latch.

The 100 litre bins will replace a 46.5 litre model that was rolled out between 2002 and 2005 and is now approaching the end of its life span, according to a staff report.

The bins were chosen by a selection committee following a comprehensive evaluation process that included a field test designed by an animal behavioural specialist and a review by a focus group composed of Toronto residents.

Prior to launching the selection process, the city also conducted a survey which revealed that the majority of residents see rodent resistance as the most important feature of any green bin — 67 per cent said it was extremely important. The survey also determined that 42 per cent of residents report having their bin knocked over by animals frequently.

In addition to the rodent resistant locking lid and latch, the bins include larger wheels for easier mobility and an external handle that allows residents to open the lid single handed, the staff report said.

City officials say the bins will be distributed beginning in late 2015 or early 2016 and will take about 18 months to be delivered city-wide.

A representative from Rehrig Pacific said they couldn’t provide more information about the bins immediately as the approval process is still underway.

“We need to respect the process that the City has outlined for us and at this time we are not able to share any further information,” Dennis Monestier, the company’s environmental sales manager, said in an email.

More items to be recycled

Meanwhile, as the city gets set to switch out the approximately 500,000 green bins currently in use, there could be changes coming for blue bins as well.

A staff report that will also be considered by public works committee on Thursday states that products made of plastic film will be added to the blue bin program as of June 1, allowing residents to recycle milk bags, dry cleaning bags, flyer bags, in-store produce bags and frozen vegetable bags, among other things.

The additional items will result in about 3,500 tonnes of waste being diverted from the landfill each year, the staff report says.

“Solid Waste Management Services staff has been assessing the feasibility of expanding the list of acceptable plastic film materials since 2008, when the city added film plastic retail shopping bags to the Blue Bin Recycling Program,” the staff report said. “A stable market for the expanded list of plastic film materials has now been established resulting in the opportunity to add new materials to the Blue Bin Recycling Program.”

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