Honestly, it depends on the bin and the city, but most urban trash bins are tougher than they look. The cold itself usually isn't what kills them. It's the whole winter package: snow piled on top, ice freezing the lid shut, road salt eating metal, plows shoving them around, and freeze-thaw cycles working on every crack.
Residential roll carts are usually made from high-density polyethylene, or HDPE. That's the same basic stuff as many kayaks. In a normal winter, HDPE stays flexible and doesn't crack easily. But in extreme cold—say, -20°F or below—it gets more brittle. If a collection truck grabs a frozen cart wrong, or a plow clips it, the bin can split. Cheaper bins with thin walls are more likely to fail. Better ones have thicker walls, reinforced ribs, and UV stabilizers, though UV is more of a summer issue.
Metal dumpsters and public sidewalk bins hold up differently. Galvanized steel is strong, but road salt is brutal. It rusts at welds, scratches, and hinges. Powder-coated steel helps, but once the coating chips, rust starts. Stainless steel lasts longer but costs more, so you mostly see it in fancier downtown bins.
Lids and hinges are the weak spots. Melted snow can run into the lid gap and refreeze, basically welding the lid shut. Hinges can seize. Wheels can get packed with ice and stop rolling. Some cities switch to domed or sloped lids so snow slides off. Others use bins with drainage holes so meltwater doesn't pool and freeze. Raised bottoms help keep the bin from freezing to the pavement. Dark-colored bins can absorb a little sun and melt frost faster, but that's minor.
Then there's the human side. Waste collection in snow is hard. If a bin is buried behind a snowbank, crews may not see it or may not be able to reach it. If it's frozen to the ground, they might have to leave it. Some cities ask residents to shovel a small area around bins and keep them a few feet from the curb, not in the street. That helps plows and trucks. In heavy snow, cities may delay recycling or garbage pickup, or run snow routes only.
Public trash bins on sidewalks have it worse. They face plows, salt spray, and constant freeze-thaw. Many are heavy steel or concrete, often bolted down. Their lids may be simple swing flaps or open tops. In winter, those flaps can freeze open or shut. Cities often inspect them more in spring, replacing rusted parts and repainting. Some use plastic liners that can be swapped out when cracked.
So how do they hold up? Pretty well, overall, but not perfectly. A good-quality HDPE cart can last 10–15 years in a snowy city with normal maintenance. Metal dumpsters can last decades if they're painted and not sitting in salt. Cheap or poorly maintained bins might only last a few winters. The biggest killers are salt corrosion, plow damage, frozen contents, and rough handling. The best winter-proof bins are thick-walled, well-drained, easy to empty, and designed so lids don't freeze shut. And no matter how good the bin is, it helps when residents clear snow and cities keep up with maintenance.
If you're buying bins for a snowy city, don't just look at price. Look for thick HDPE, reinforced hinges, good wheels, drainage, and a lid that overlaps the body. For metal, look for hot-dip galvanizing or a tough powder coat, and plan to touch up scratches. Winter always finds the weak point.