The Better Bin, by industrial design firm Group Project, was the winning design in NYC's competition for a better garbage can. The design is said to be easier for sanitation workers to lift, and more difficult for rats to climb into. There's also a prominent bar bisecting the opening, to prevent businesses from loading the cans with commercial trash.

Since 2023, the city has been rolling the new cans out. The goal is to replace all 23,000 of NYC's existing cans, and to date they've completed 5,000 swaps.

If the tariff war is turned back on, however, the can swaps may end. The Better Bins are manufactured by Quebec-based Roy Metal Products. The 25% tariff, which was originally scheduled to go into effect today, would have increased the $1,000-per-can cost to $1,250.

An NYC Department of Sanitation spokesperson said they're "watching the situation closely."

I was shocked, by the way, to learn how much each can costs to manufacture. I'd love to see which design decisions affected which aspects of the cost.