Item - 2026.EX29.5

Mayor Olivia Chow and Councillor Paula Fletcher recommend that:

1. Executive Committee request the City Manager, in coordination with the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure Services, to consider as part of the upcoming procurement process, which would take effect upon expiry of the existing 20-year agreement with Astral Media, de-coupling the litter bins from the rest of street furniture agreement; and:

a. request the General Manager, Transportation Services, to consider a Request for Proposal process for a new contract for street furniture and street furniture advertising, excluding litter bins;

b. request the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services to consider a procurement process for bin parts and stock of bins and to develop and implement all programmatic and service delivery requirements, including but not limited to additional vehicles, equipment, staff, real estate and supplies, any operational realignments, agreements and all other capital and operational aspects that would allow delivery of the litter bin program by Solid Waste Management Services; and

c. request the General Manager, Transportation Services, and the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, to include the financial implications of the above requests for consideration as part of the 2027 budget process.

2. Executive Committee request the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, in consultation with the Executive Director, FIFA World Cup 2026, Toronto Secretariat, to prepare a waste management strategy for the FIFA World Cup 2026 including a ‘hot spot plan’ for litter bin locations on streets and in parks and for a plan to ensure sufficient bins for the games.

In 2007 the City of Toronto entered into a 20-year agreement with Astral Media for the supply, manufacturing, installation and maintenance of 25,000 street furniture elements, including transit shelters, litter bins, benches, and other structures.

The City’s street furniture contract with Astral Media expires in 2027. It is our understanding that the current industry approach to new contracts decouples litter bins from street furniture.

Over the life of the current contract there have been five different designs for the litter bins with varying levels of functionality as well as issues regarding maintenance and installation.

With the contract ending, the City can now step in to ensure our litter bins are well designed, well-maintained, well-placed, responsive to community needs and end the persistent problem of broken and overflowing litter bins that make our main streets less livable. In anticipation of a new street furniture program, the City is conducting a public survey to hear from Torontonians about their priorities.

The recommendations below request City staff to initiate an RFP only for street furniture and street furniture advertising; and to initiate a separate process to bring all the aspects of the litter bins wholly under the control of the city. Both processes should capture the feedback collected through the public survey, as well as 311 data.

We also ask you to support a recommendation for this summer that ensures litter bins are well-placed and well-maintained when the world is coming to Toronto for the FIFA World Cup.