Automated garbage collection uses a type of container that can be emptied by automated equipment, making the process faster, more efficient, and much safer. Each household is furnished with a special container, which the citizen rolls to curbside on garbage collection day or the night before trash day. The garbage vehicle is equipped with a lifting mechanism that reaches out to the container placed at its proper location with the opening facing the street, lifts and empties the contents, and returns the container to its original position.