There was a lot of trash talk on the steps of City Hall Tuesday.

At a rally, community cleanup organizations and some City Council members pushed back against the city’s mandatory containerization efforts, which would require putting trash into city-approved bins beginning in June 2026.

The Association of Community Employment Programs (ACE), a nonprofit organization that sweeps city streets, opposes the change, saying they’re worried the new container rules are a financial and operational challenge.

“Having those bags there for a few minutes is not a huge problem,” Councilman Erik Bottcher, a Manhattan Democrat, said at the rally.

“The full expense of the containers needs to be picked up by ACE, which is going to be between $4.5 and $5 million a year for ACE, meaning ACE goes bye-bye, ACE doesn’t exist anymore,” Bottcher added.

The DSNY bins are anywhere from around $46 to $53 for one bin, depending on the size. Representatives from Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) across the city are also demanding the city’s Department of Sanitation reconsider its approach to trash collection.

Tiera Mack, executive director of the Pitkin Avenue BID, also spoke at the rally, saying her nonprofit in Brooklyn has a small budget and can’t afford the new containers.

“We’re only able to containerize a third of our garbage,” Mack said. “Our in-house sanitation team is spending an extra two to three hours a day making sure that things go into the containers.”

Container rules went into effect for all businesses in the city in 2024, requiring all trash bags be placed in secure bins. In November 2024, the same mandate for residential buildings with one to nine units.

During Tuesday’s City Council Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management budget hearing, acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan said containerization is working and the city is turning the tide in its war on rats.

“In February of 2025 — the third full month in which 70% of New York City’s trash was covered by requirements to use bins, rat sightings were down 26% compared to the year before,” Lojan said. “This isn’t an accident. It isn’t an anomaly. This is something that cynics in Chicago, L.A., Paris and even right here in our town, never thought possible.”

Meanwhile, some ACE workers worry the financial burden of these container rules could eliminate their jobs that help keep city streets and sidewalks clean.

“I am proud of the work I do helping to keep New York City clean,” Maritsa Cosme, an ACE worker who spoke at the rally, said. “Helping my city and being a living example for others who are trying to turn their lives around.”

The city’s Sanitation Department has a proposed a $1.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2026.