BOSTON — At a City Council Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology hearing on Oct. 2, 2025, councilors and city sanitation officials discussed proposals to reduce rodent activity by limiting the time non‑containerized trash sits on city streets and expanding containerization for commercial waste.

The hearing (docket 1448) was chaired by Councilor Enrique Pepin, and the lead sponsor, Councilor Sharon Durkin, framed the discussion around two immediate goals: requiring same‑day put‑out and pickup for trash left in kitchen bags, and requiring commercial trash — especially food waste — to be secured in containers. “The way trash is managed in our city affects every Boston resident’s daily life,” Councilor Sharon Durkin said in her opening remarks.

Why this matters: city officials described rodent activity as a public‑health concern linked to the frequency and method of trash disposal. Assistant Commissioner John Ulrich, who leads the city’s Boston Rodent Action Plan (BRAP), said the plan’s aim is “measurably reducing rodent activity across the city” through coordinated tactics including traps, rodent‑resistant barrels, sensors and improved trash operations. Councilor Ed Flynn called the situation “a public health crisis.”

Key proposals and constraints

- Same‑day put‑out and pickup for non‑containerized residential waste: Councilors and Public Works officials discussed narrowing the window when bagged trash can be placed at the curb so bags are not left overnight. Dennis Roche, superintendent of waste reduction, described the operational tradeoffs: Boston’s current residential collection model typically begins at 6 a.m. and can run into the afternoon as trucks serve multiple neighborhoods, a design he said balances fiscal and operational efficiency. “Trash typically begins at 6AM, every morning,” Roche said. Officials said creating a later, narrower morning pickup window or shifting to a “one‑load” downtown model (more trucks completing a neighborhood in a single pass) would raise costs and require contract changes.

- Commercial containerization and enforcement: Councilors pressed the administration to enforce existing state sanitation requirements that, councilors were told, technically require containerization. City staff said Boston has historically taken a differentiated approach because dense neighborhoods (Beacon Hill, North End) lack space for containers and some collection equipment cannot access narrow streets. Boston’s code enforcement unit is small; officials said larger enforcement capacity would be needed to make containerization mandatory in practice.

- Contract and budget implications: Dennis Roche and other staff noted that collection contracts and disposal costs have risen sharply. City staff reported the capital waste collection contract is about $45 million annually, disposal costs are roughly $30–40 million annually, and the overall department budget is roughly $100 million; the city realized a roughly $15 million contract increase last year. Officials said most current trash contracts run through June 30, 2027, and that new bid specifications for downtown neighborhoods will be developed in coming months.

Pilots, data and community engagement

City staff described pilots and data collection under the Boston Rodent Action Plan: sensor and trap deployments in the North End and Back Bay, rodent‑detection cameras at certain Boston Housing Authority (BHA) sites, rodent‑resistant street barrels, and collaboration with a Harvard Kennedy School class researching tradeoffs and community preferences. Luke Hines said city teams have held focus groups, community listening sessions and plan another public meeting on Oct. 16.

Education and behavior change

Officials and neighborhood volunteers emphasized outreach and targeted education. The city’s 0‑waste education team has run MBTA‑targeted ads, created online resources (boston.gov/rats) and piloted neighborhood programs. Residents and block captains urged continued, localized outreach (including multilingual materials for Chinatown) and neighborhood pilots that combine education with operational changes.

Neighborhood and equity concerns

Councilors stressed that Boston neighborhoods differ: some dense, historic areas lack space for bins or vehicle access, while other districts can more readily adopt containers. Officials and councilors discussed equity and practical questions such as who would pay for bins, whether curbside fees or per‑bin charges (models used in other cities) should be considered, and how changes would affect renters and small businesses. Several councilors and residents urged targeted solutions for Chinatown, Beacon Hill, Back Bay and other hotspots.

No votes or formal actions were recorded at the hearing. Instead, city staff described next steps: continued community engagement, consultant work to scope contract options (including cost estimates for different pickup models), Harvard student research due at semester’s end, and planned pilot rollouts at select BHA properties to test containerization and camera/sensor impacts on rodent activity.

Ending

Councilors and administration officials said the city will continue BRAP work — combining pilots, data collection, community engagement and contract analysis — before proposing ordinance, enforcement or budget changes. The committee scheduled additional outreach and review as staff produce reports and recommendations.