SouthCoast trash can cleaning biz buzzing, keeping flies, bacteria away

Apr 07, 2025

SOMERSET — On a tag-along trailer hitched to a pickup truck, a 320-gallon water tank holds clean water heated by a Honda engine and pressurized to 3500 psi with various gauges and dials in a compact controls dashboard. Off the back, there’s a high-pressure hose, a pre-heated rotating nozzle, and a chute perfectly square to accommodate recycling and garbage bins.

When Rui Costa of Somerset, the owner of Pristine Can Cleaners, pulls over to the side of the road, he fires up the custom-built machinery special-ordered from a vendor in Utah. You can see him dragging neighborhood bins out to the apparatus, hosing them down, and inverting them over the 360-degree nozzle for an intense washing that reaches “every nook and cranny,” the business’ website reads.

“I don’t use any chemicals," Costa said of the eco-friendly process. “Just hot, hot water.” The machine that heats the water pumps five and a half gallons of it per minute.

The bin is returned to the ground where it is unbelted from a mechanical arm to air-dry, sanitized and deodorized by 200-degree water, and smelling of plastic. Bacteria, said Costa, dies in temperatures above 160 degrees. Dirty water is collected in a separate tank stored on the trailer. “It’s real simple,” Costa said.

Some folks are skeptical, Costa said, referring to the one-of-a-kind can washing business he officially started in November of last year, but launched on March 31. As warmer weather approaches and bins begin to reek of waste, Costa is busier than ever, taking on as many as 10 to 15 jobs daily, and washing upwards of eight to 16 bins.

He usually runs ahead of schedule, serving nearby communities around the SouthCoast, including Fall River and Swansea, and has made trips to Barrington and Warren, Rhode Island.

Most municipalities supply residents and businesses with a recycling or garbage bin, but the responsibility of keeping these receptacles clean falls on the shoulders of business or homeowners.

Costa, a Fall River native who has made his career as a waste-hauler in Brockton, recalls watching residents collecting their emptied bins on trash day, often holding their noses or using napkins to protect their hands from touching the grimy handle on their bins.

“It shouldn’t have to be like that,” he said. Keeping outdoor trash barrels clean can also mitigate the risk of bacteria, pests, and odors that flock to a community’s “super dirty” waste barrels, he said.

For now, he’s a one-man show, doing it all to “ensure it’s a good service.” So far, he’s racked up seven 5-star reviews, and has dedicated a Facebook page to reach his audience.

Seeing is believing, and the first wash is always the worst one, he said. Bins are dirty after a winter season of use, and it takes about 15 minutes to complete one cleaning. Those who schedule a cleaning do not need to be home for the visit.

But neighbors can subscribe to Costa’s service on a quarterly, bi-monthly, or monthly basis by visiting his website, or scanning the hefty QR code on the side of the trailer.

Website visitors can choose from four packages: a single wash for $40, a quarterly cleaning for $30, and a bi-monthly, at $25, or monthly cleaning for $20. Two bins are included in each visit, no matter the selected package, and for every additional barrel that needs a good spritz, it’s $7.

“They need to see it,” Costa said, hoping his business is “a solution” to solving a small yet significant need, while doing folks a favor and helping keep the neighborhood clean.