We probably have one in each room of the house and yet very rarely give them a seconds thought but the humble waste bin is an important part of keeping our homes clean and tidy and without them we may find ourselves knee deep in rubbish before we know it.

Yet the different types of rubbish bin used around the home are quite numerous as each bin has to work in a different environment. Waste bins are far more than just receptacles for rubbish a lot more thought goes into them than that.

Take the external waste bin, often called the dustbin or garbage can. These bins have to be large enough to hold an entire household’s waste for a week or in some locales – two weeks.

External bins therefore have to obtain certain criteria to function. If waste is to sit in them all week then they need to have a good string lid that will not only keep the smells in the bin but prevent vermin from entering the bin and making a mess. External bins need also to be functional which is why the growing trend is for wheelie bins. Wheelie bins make it a lot easier for refuse collectors to transport the bin from the front of our homes to the rubbish collection vehicle (bin lorry).

Many of us are now recycle much of our rubbish which probably means not only do we have an external bin for our household waste but also we have recycling bins for different types of recyclable rubbish. Gardening bins for instance are the same as normal wheelie bins or external bins but more -often-than-not they are painted green to help distinguish them. Other recycling bins are used externally too and often they are colour coded too.

And indoors we have recycling bins also. Many kitchen bins are now accompanied with multi-section colour coded recycling bins. Like regular Kitchen bins they have to have a good lid too to prevent smells from leaking out and making the kitchen stink.

But kitchen bins, recycling bins and wheelie bins are only part of the story. Other bins around the home have to have different functionality too. The living room bin for instance often need to be more stylish than regular bins (as we do have to look at them every day) and designer bins are now common. Sanitary bins are often used in bathrooms as they are more hygienic to hold waste that often contains body waste, while the humble waste paper bin is perhaps the simplest of all but then it doesn’t need to protect us from smells or unhygienic waste.