The city has unveiled a prototype for new side-loading garbage trucks it plans to use to collect trash from large apartment buildings.

The trucks, which are still undergoing testing, will be able to hoist on-street containers the city will eventually require high-density buildings to use to store trash, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference in Manhattan’s Hudson Square Thursday.

Reporters got a demonstration of one truck’s bin-hoisting abilities just before the mayor’s announcement.

“The truck you see next to me,” Adams said, pointing to the vehicle, “represents the future of New York City garbage collection.”

The new trucks will be able to collect trash “substantially faster” than manual pickup allows, City Hall said in a news release.

 

 

 

 

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The city plans to require buildings with 31 or more residential units to use the on-street containers the trucks are designed to pick up and empty, starting with buildings in Manhattan's Community Board 9 in the spring of 2025, a spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation said.

Smaller buildings, with 10 to 30 units, will be allowed to choose between stationery on-street containers and smaller bins with wheels, the release said.

Community Board 9, which includes Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights and the Sugar Hill District, will become the first district in the city to have all of its trash containerized and serviced, according to City Hall's release. 

"A timeline and process for expansion beyond Manhattan Community Board 9 will be determined based upon learnings from the pilot district and a full environmental review," DSNY's spokesperson said in an email.

Citywide, buildings with nine or fewer residential units will be required to put trash in secure “wheelie bins” starting this fall. Those same buildings will be required to use official city trash bins starting in the summer of 2026.