Toronto city council has voted in favour of contracting out residential garbage collection in a large swath of the west of the city.

Council on Monday evening voted 26-16 in favour of awarding the collection contract to Green For Life Waste and Recycling Solution of Pickering, Ont.

The firm bid $186.4 million for the contract, averaging $17.4 million per year. That bid was less than those submitted by three other eligible larger companies.

City staff estimate the contract will save Toronto $78.4 million over its seven-year span. Private pickup would begin next summer, and the city stands to save $11.9 million in that first year, staff estimate.

The privatized pick-up would affect curbside collection for 165,000 homes from west of Yonge Street to the Humber River.

A private company already picks up residential garbage in Etobicoke.