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Get a look at the North End’s new rat-proof trash bins
"The new, rodent-resistant receptacles will assist our efforts in mitigating rat and seagull activity," the Boston Department of Public Works said.
The North End just got 20 new rat-proof trash bins to combat a rat problem that’s intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The enclosed trash bins securely contain the regular open containers and target streetside trash, which is a major draw for the pesky rodents. Department of Public Works officials say the bins should keep seagulls from picking food waste from the trash and dropping it on the ground for rats to enjoy.
“PWD crews are busy this morning replacing trash receptacles in the #NorthEnd. The new, rodent resistant receptacles will assist our efforts in mitigating rat & seagull activity,” the public works department wrote Friday on X.
A public works employee demonstrated how the enclosed bins function — by placing the regular open bins inside the secure container through a small door, then closing and locking it. Pedestrians can toss trash in a chute at the top of the bin, which then guides trash into the interior container.
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The new bins are set to appear in the Boston Common and on Boston Housing Authority properties, according to a WBZ report.
The bins are part of a city-wide initiative, the Boston Rodent Action Plan (BRAP), which the city unveiled in July to tackle the ongoing rat problem. The plan included a report that highlighted the source of the infestation, which mainly boils down to easy access to food sources.
“All rat infestations were strongly associated with nearby food trash occurring either in dumpsters, residential flimsy plastic cans, or via simple plastic bags dropped randomly on the curb areas for pickup,” Urban Rodentologist Robert M. Corrigan, Ph.D., wrote in the city’s official BRAP report.
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The report said the trash issue “could be easily reduced or eliminated with some modicum of basic attention to community sanitation or property-level pride.”
Several agencies are working together on the rat-reducing plan, including the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Parks and Recreation, Boston Water and Sewer, and the BHA.
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