suck it up, windsor — downtown deploys new anti-litter weapon
3 minute read
'showing that windsor’s core truly matters.' city of windsor employee jeff litfin displays the region's first electric glutton zen sweeper at a press conference on monday, july 7, 2025 in the downtown's maiden lane area.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
in a boosted effort to clean up windsor’s downtown core, the city on monday unveiled its latest weapon — the glutton zen street sweeper.
the electric-powered $30,000 machine will be used to suck up refuse from sidewalks, alleys and even indoor municipal facilities. it was purchased from a british firm to augment the city’s fleet of much larger street sweepers, which can’t easily access more confined spaces and areas with pedestrian traffic.
the sweeper will be initially deployed along the ouellette avenue and pelissier street corridors.
“it’s one more way we’re showing that windsor’s core truly matters,” ward 3 coun. renaldo agostino said at the vacuum’s official unveiling.
“the new electric-powered sweeper will play an important role in creating the downtown windsor we all want to see, which is essential as we continue to implement improvements aimed at attracting more residents, businesses, investments and visitors.”
windsor city council’s downtown representative renaldo agostino tries his hand at the latest weapon being deployed to combat litter in the core, during a press conference on monday, july 7, 2025, in maiden lane.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
the glutton zen will be operated by a pair of city employees and won’t require hiring any additional staff, said jim leether, the city’s senior manager of environmental services. the machine needs only one person to operate it, but leether said the second employee would tend to larger pieces of refuse found during its sweeps.
the vacuum can operate for up to 10 hours on a single charge and uses a regular outlet for recharging.
“we’re really trying to enhance our presence downtown,” leether said.
“we’ve always done this type of work downtown, but this technology allows us to do it a little more efficiently. this is a natural progression to get on the sidewalks, the alleys, the trails and really start enhancing the cleaning.”
city of windsor employee jeff litfin displays the british-built electric glutton zen sweeper at monday’s press conference in the maiden lane area.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
the new machine is the second anti-litter initiative the city has recently undertaken to clean up and make downtown more alluring to residents, businesses and visitors. in december, the city launched its curb the trash program that provided businesses with mobile trash cans.
advertisement
“the long-term success of our downtown depends on more people choosing to live here and that means creating a clean, safe and welcoming environment every day,” said downtown windsor bia chair chris macleod.
“the deployment of the glutton zen sweeper is a visible step forward.”
the city is conducting a one-year pilot project to assess glutton zen’s effectiveness and make a recommendation about whether additional machines should be added for use in windsor’s other business improvement areas.
leether said the sweeper is versatile in what it can suck up.
during the demonstration at monday’s announcement, the glutton sucked up fine materials as well as larger objects such as coffee cups.
while the glutton isn’t meant for use during the winter months, leether said that doesn’t mean it’ll be mothballed each winter.
“we’re not going to be walking around sucking up salt during the winter that would ruin the machine,” leether said. “our regular street sweepers don’t go out in the wintertime.
“the machine fits through a standard doorway, so we can use them in places like arenas and community centers. we can go inside because there’s zero emissions.
“it’s a year-round asset.”
city of windsor manager of environmental services jim leether speaks during a press conference on monday, july 7, 2025, in the maiden lane area.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
even cigarettes that are still smoldering won’t pose a danger to the glutton.
“i don’t think there’s too much we’re worried about picking up,” leether said.
“the vehicle actually has a fire suppression system so it will detect if there’s smoke or smoldering. we fill it with water and it will mist it out.
“there’s no risk of fire.”
leether said his department will collect data on resident complaints about sidewalk issues, the number of kilometers swept daily, and the volume of trash collected through the end of next summer as part of the pilot project.
“we’ll factor in many of those things in the decision-making process if we do require more of them,” leether said.
advertisement
