After less than six months on the market, we have developed a solution that allows homeowners, waste collection companies, and municipalities to make their existing trash carts Black Bear-Resistant!

The Wildlife Management Institute has certified our Ultimate Trash Locks as the first and only product to date to pass the black bear-resistant testing to retrofit residential trash carts against black bear incursions. This will allow homeowners, waste collection companies, and municipalities to retrofit their existing trash carts against black bears at a fraction of the cost of a new black bear-resistant cart.  

To receive this certification the Locks were added to a typical residential trash cart.  Food that bears crave, such as mangos, apple/cherry pies, chocolate syrup, and marshmallow cream was then added to the cart with the chocolate and marshmallow spread onto the straps directly as well.  The cart was then put in a pen with multiple bears for over three hours, while the bears tried to gain access to the food that was locked inside the trash cart.   At the end of the test, the bears had not been able to gain any significant access to the food.  The cart and the straps did not suffer any significant damage. This certification was achieved with a 95-gallon Rehrig Pacific trash cart (Certification #BB0008).

“It is with genuine excitement that we announce that the Ultimate Locks have achieved this level of certification,” said Patrick Hanrahan, President of Primacy Solutions. “Once we saw that there were areas of the country that had daily or weekly black bear incursions that could not be addressed by our Original Trash Locks, we endeavored to make the Ultimate Locks that would not only deter the bears but make it virtually impossible for them to retrieve any food from the trash carts.  We would like to specifically like to thank the City of Asheville Sanitation Division as well as the WNC Nature Center for their support and encouragement, without which the certification may not have been achieved.

From our customers:

Wicked Weed Brewing, a regional brewery in Asheville NC, recently installed the Ultimate Black Bear Trash Locks to its compost carts and spent grain totes to meet the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission’s requirements to become a recognized BearWise^© Business. "Incorporating a commitment to environmental responsibility, including the protection of wildlife, is a cornerstone of our Sustainability Principle - Resource Stewardship," stated Andrew Dagnan, Director of Safety and Sustainability at Wicked Weed Brewing, a regional brewery in Asheville, NC. "Effectively managing waste, compost, and recyclables to prevent bear interactions is essential for upholding our Resource Stewardship principle."

Skyline Disposal formerly Waste Works, a Central Virginia company that does residential trash collection, recently started offering its customers to have Primacy’s Trash Locks installed on its trash carts as an option to protect the local wildlife and extreme weather conditions.

“Our customers have been wanting a solution to secure their trash carts for years,” said Travis Hoadley, owner of Skyline Disposal. “Being able to offer a solution that is quick to install, as well as easy to use for our customers and employees has stopped us from giving our customers the option of a locking cart in the past.  I am happy to say that Primacy Solutions has solved that problem.”

For more information on The Ultimate Black Bear Trash Locks: www.TrashLockers.com 

Visit bearwise.org for more information and free resources on living responsibly with black bears.

For more information on approved black bear-resistant products see the Wildlife Management Institute:  https://wildlifemanagement.institute/bear-products/approved