Thursday, April 3, 2025
City proposes investment in waste management improvements to enhance quality-of-life, streamline city services and build a more sustainable Providence
Mayor Brett P. Smiley and Councilman Jim Taylor today announced a proposal to invest in Providence’s waste management infrastructure with the citywide replacement of trash and recycling carts. This initiative is part of the City’s broader commitment to improving quality-of-life for residents by enhancing city services and promoting environmental stewardship. This proposed transition to new carts would assist in reducing recycling contamination rates, streamline waste collection and support the City’s long-term sustainability goals.
“Since day one, my administration has prioritized making Providence a cleaner, greener and more efficient city,” said Mayor Brett Smiley. “This initiative underscores our data-driven and multifaceted approach to improving quality of life by investing in waste collection infrastructure that enhances service delivery, reduces costs and reinforces our commitment to sustainability, ensuring that we make environmentally responsible choices for the future.”
The replacement of trash and recycling carts is aimed at supporting long-standing issues within the City’s waste collection system. Currently, many carts are outdated and require frequent repairs. Additionally, inconsistencies in cart design and labeling have contributed to high recycling contamination rates across Providence neighborhoods. The new standardized carts would include clear labeling to help residents properly sort their waste, reduce contamination and lower costs associated with contaminated recycling.
The proposed trash carts would be 95-gallon gray bins with black lids and the recycling carts would be 95-gallon blue bins with blue lids with educational labels to further inform residents about proper recycling policies. These improvements aim to enhance efficiency for waste collection services and help residents better manage their household waste, reducing the amount of overflow trash that ends up in recycling bins, leading to contamination.
This initiative would be funded in part by grants and low-interest loans. The City has secured two grants — $1.8 million in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) and $375,000 from The Recycling Partnership. Additionally, the City would enter into a financing agreement with Closed Loop Partners (CLP) to finance $6.5 million of the project at a low interest rate, with the remaining funding sources to be finalized once approved by City Council.
In addition to replacing waste carts, the City is proposing to implement a multi-pronged strategy to improve recycling rates, including enhancing data collection to enable targeted outreach and enforcement to reduce contamination at the building level, increasing education and enforcement efforts in collaboration with municipal waste haulers, a citywide print and mail-based recycling education campaign and in-person education focused on neighborhoods with low recycling rates. These education efforts are largely grant funded. The City has secured funds from U.S. EPA, The Recycling Partnership, and Rhode Island Resource recovery for in-person and print-based educational efforts.
The City plans to finalize funding and issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a cart vendor later this month, with cart distribution anticipated to begin in Fall 2025. Community education and outreach will accompany the rollout to ensure a smooth transition for residents.
For more information on the City’s waste management initiatives and sustainability efforts, visit https://climatereadypvd.providenceri.gov/.