As offices are busy places, where people can spend a large proportion of their working lives, they are also busy places for rubbish and waste. Office bins have to cope with a wide variety of waste and choosing office bins can be a challenge, especially with more emphasis on recycling. So knowing what bin to buy and for where can be quite difficult.

In sourcing office bins, you need to establish the types of rubbish and locations of the bins. In most modern offices the majority of waste that is disposed of is paper so a good paper recycling bin is essential.

These come in a variety of shapes and sizes and if you re worried about security, lockable paper recycling bins are available that can store paper data securely until it is time to be shredded. You can either choose to provide under the desk waste paper baskets for individuals, or have a larger paper recycling bin for the whole office – it depends on the numbers that work there and the distance involved in disposing of the litter.

Other items that can be recycled are common around offices too. Paper and polystyrene cups often litter many offices. These small vending cups can often be recycled and cup collectors and bins are a good idea anywhere where you have these sorts of vending machines. The same can be said for aluminium drinks cans which can also be recycled. Can banks are another must if you have a soft drinks machine.

Often office workers eat at their desks so somewhere for food packaging and non recyclables should be considered. A good-sized general waste bin is normally sufficient.

Outdoor areas need some sort of litter bin too, especially if office workers are smoking outside. Wall-mounted ashtrays are a good idea, this prevents the littering of cigarette ends around office entrances and are easily mounted onto most wall surfaces.

Wall mounted ashtrays are now essential outside

A good exterior bin is also a good idea, not just for people to dispose of items when they are on their way in or out, but having a large exterior bin where indoor bins can be emptied into will ensure the indoor bins can be regularly emptied.

When sourcing office bins the internet is perhaps the best resource/ There are a wide range of office bins available on the internet so check and compare prices and remember delivery times and costs too to ensure you don’t go over budget.

While Christmas is a period of giving and receiving, with retailers experiencing the busiest time of the year, it is also a period when we throw far more rubbish out than at any other time. Rubbish bins are often full to bursting at this time of year as we all throw out packaging, cards, Christmas trees and food.

All this can be a bad time for the environment, as much of what we throw away ends up on landfill sites. But there are ways of recycling your Christmas rubbish and cutting down on what you throw away.

Christmas Trees

Every year nearly ten million Christmas trees are bought and disposed of each year, many of which are simply thrown away into the rubbish bin; however, Christmas trees are easy to recycle and provide useful materials such as wood chippings.

Many councils offer a collection and recycling service for Christmas trees but failing that, most household recycling centres will have somewhere for trees to be recycled.

Packaging and Gift Wrapping

Thousands of tonnes of wrapping paper is also thrown away each year. Sadly, the majority of gift wrapping cannot be recycled as the ink and sticky tape that covers it is too difficult to remove. You could of course look for better alternatives to the coloured wrapping paper, or try and reuse it rather than just throw it in the waste bin.

Excess packaging is also a problem at this time of year, and many people are now being careful of the products they buy are not full of excess packaging. Fortunately, a lot of it can be recycled so make sure you use the recycling bin and not just dump it in the dustbin.

Christmas Cards

Nearly a billion Christmas cards are bought and sent each year and many of these cards can easily be recycled, so again, use the recycling bins, not the dustbin.

Food Waste

While most of us eat and drink a little too much at Christmas, we also throw away tonnes of unwanted food. Try and buy less this year but if you do end up with too much food think of other ways of getting rid of it such as composting rather than just dumping it in the rubbish bin.

Recycling bins are inexpensive and look great

All kinds of recycling bins are available for around the home and if you have not got one yet, look around, especially on the internet, as you may be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to find low cost recycling bins.

With the recent change in smoking law, it’s no longer possible to smoke inside public places such as offices and railway stations, so now you often find alternative provisions made for smokers. A similar situation also exists in many people’s houses – a lot of people don’t smoke but have friends or relatives who do, so they make a space for them to smoke outside to keep the fumes away from the house.

This, of course, leaves the way open for cigarette butts to wind up in many and varied places, so if you’re looking for a way to keep the smokers you know tidy, you should consider investing in a good cigarette bin where they can dispose of their waste. There are options available to suit a range of needs and budgets, so take some time to get to know your options before choosing the right cigarette bin to suit your needs.

If you’re looking to create a smoking space for office workers, then your solution will probably be two-fold. Firstly, you may want to consider purchasing a small smoking shelter for people to use when they pop out for a cigarette. This is a good way of containing the size of the smoking area, as well as keeping people dry when it rains. They are easy to assemble and are hard-wearing, with polyester coated steel tubing to ensure the structure stays strong.

Then you can choose from a range of cigarette bins, including the practical Cigarette Ash Bin. This has been especially designed for the job, so you know it will be good. It has an elevated hood to stop the rain getting in, safety features in the form of an anti-theft chain and you can even choose from a range of colours.

Alternatively, if you’re a householder and would prefer it if your smoking guests only smoked outside, then one option you may wish to consider is the Stand Mounted Cigarette Bin. This is great as it’s easily transportable to the area where it’s needed most and, as it’s enclosed with only small gaps with which to extinguish cigarettes, you don’t need to worry about rain or small garden animals getting in. This is a great cigarette bin for all your domestic needs and you can even choose the colour of the stand so it blends in better with its surroundings.

They may not be the most exciting of household contraptions, but bins don’t need to be as perfunctory and practical as their reputation would have you believe. Everyone likes their bedrooms to look nice, right? You spend a lot of time in there and you want the decoration and accessorising to be good so you get loads of wear out of it and it won’t go out of style.

Designers have caught on to this, and it’s now possible to get some fairly swish bins that not only do the job they’re designed to do but also look fantastic in your room as well.

One brilliant (and fantastically hygienic) option is the Smart Sensor Operated Bin. You don’t even have to touch it to open the lid – just wave your hand over it and the sensor will react and open it for you, meaning you don’t have to worry about bin germs. It also comes in a lovely brushed stainless steel finish, so it will look sleek and stylish no matter where you keep it. Plus, there are a variety of sizes so if you’re after a discreet bedroom bin, go for a small one and store it in the corner of your room.

If you’re someone who likes to change your colour scheme from time to time, or who likes to coordinate all of the colours in your bedroom, then a fantastic option you should consider is the Designer Pedal Bin, which comes in a range of colour options to suit all styles and tastes. You operate it via a traditional pedal mechanism and can pick from a range of lid colours – from red, green, blue, yellow and white, meaning you’re bound to find one that matches your room perfectly. These bins are great for anywhere in the house and are particularly good if, for example, you have a desk in your bedroom and are in need of somewhere to put your office waste.

Another lovely, popular bedroom bin choice is the small pedal bin that comes with a flat lid so it looks discreet but is still fully functional. Here, you could choose one in white for a minimalist look or perhaps go for stainless steel if you’re looking to make a style statement. As these bins are small (around 12l or so), they don’t take up much space and so are great if you’re looking for space-saving solutions as well as practicality.

Recycling is becoming more and more important all the time. Not just around the home, but offices and workplaces are increasingly being encouraged to cut down on waste and recycle more. One of the difficulties both home-owners and businesses face, however, is how to encourage the family members and workers to follow suit.

One of the best methods of encouraging recycling is to replace the regular waste bins and buy recycling bins, which will actively force people to throw the right items in the right bins.

Recycling bins come in all sorts of variations and styles. Many are designed from home use but there is a wide selection of larger recycling bins ideal for the office and workplace.

There is, in truth, little difference between a recycling bin and a conventional rubbish bin, however, many recycling bins are colour coded, which means you can set-up your own rules as to what goes into each.

For instance, by replacing the kitchen bin with two-or-three recycling bins, each with a different colour lid, you can instruct the family members, to say, dispose of food waste in one colour, paper and wrappers in another, and perhaps tin cans and bottles in the third.

You can even match the colours with the schemes operated by your local council and it will save time when it comes to emptying the kitchen bin into the main recycling bins outside.

The same can be done around the workplace too. Recycling bins can be designated paper only, while others can be used for disposing of the cans or polystyrene coffee cups that can build so quickly around the workplace.

You can even get specialist receptacles for disposing of these items with cup collectors, bottle and can banks and even paper recycling bins.  While many offices have documents they need to hold securely, you can buy lockable paper recycling  bins to ensure your documents are kept safe until they are shredded and disposed of.

Lockable paper recycling bin

Recycling bins can be modern in design and style too. Often with contemporary designs they can look far better than the dowdy old dustbins so many workplaces use, and for the home there are a wide range of different styles to choose from to suit almost any décor of home.

Recycling bins are readily available on the internet and are inexpensive and will go a long way to ensure the rising costs of waste management in both business and domestic environments will not cause your home or business to suffer financially when you are eventually forced into recycling.

There are many locations where the amount of rubbish thrown in public bins can be excessive. While high street bins are very busy, and those outside fast food restaurants in particular, there are some areas where even these pale in significance.

These areas are either places where vast numbers visit for a specific event, or places where people spend all day enjoying leisure facilities – and it’s these types of areas where waste management and keeping the place litter-free can be a real challenge.

Theme Parks and Zoos

Theme parks and zoos are a good example of this. Because these areas have captive visitors – in other words people stay within the confines of the park all day. This means everything they consume, food, snacks, drinks, cigarettes etc are discarded on site. For some theme parks, zoos and attractions that can mean tens of thousands of people throwing vast quantities of rubbish away every day.

Sports Stadiums

Sports stadiums are another such location. Here, even greater numbers in a far smaller area congregate, again consuming food and drinks – all of which has to be disposed of. Again, these are captive visitors so everything that is consumed on the premises gets disposed of there too.

Managing Waste

So how do locations like this manage to keep litter-free and handle all that waste? Well there are four aspects for waste management in such high volume areas:

Number of Bins

Ensuring they have enough rubbish bins is essential for these locations. Not enough bins will mean the waste bins that do exist will quickly fill, overflow and lead to littering.

Public bins have to be large

Size of Rubbish Bin

Another key aspect is ensuring the rubbish and litter bins are big enough. If bins are too small then the same problems as above will exist which is why large exterior and public bins are used in such areas.

Location of Bins

If the bins are in the wrong location people may not find them or may choose to dispose of litter on the floor rather than walk round looking for the bins so good planning to site the bins in the right location (such as near eateries and snack bars).

Frequency of Emptying

Finally, ensuring the litter bins are emptied frequently also ensures that they don’t over flow. Most areas like this have a team of waste management technicians who continually empty the bins disposing of the waste in large exterior receptacles.

It can often seem like health and safety overkill these days, with warnings coming from all directions about the dos and don’ts of this and that. It can be annoying, but there is a point to some of it.

Take bins. People are increasingly aware of the importance and use of recycling and so are pretty good about putting things in the right recycling bin and putting out their rubbish bin for collection on the right day. But no matter how careful you are, bins are always going to be breeding grounds for bacteria, so it’s worth giving a bit of thought to making sure your bins are as hygienic as possible.

Of course, the simplest way to do this is to clean your bins regularly. This will not only cut down on bad smells that may occur from a build up of grime, but will help keep bacteria growth at bay and discourage any vermin that may otherwise have been attracted to the malodorous bin. You should clean your rubbish bin using water and detergent. If it’s a big bin, use a hose and long-handled brush.

Let the bin dry completely and then spray it with disinfectant to make sure it’s squeaky clean before using it again. If bin cleaning isn’t really your thing, there are even companies who will do it for you, whether you want your office bins or your domestic bins cleaned.

One simple way to keep your bins hygienic and cut down on how often you need to clean them is to use bin bags. Buy strong, good quality bin bags to reduce the chance of them ripping and leaking rubbish. They also help to contain the smell of the rubbish. If you’re worried about the environment and are concerned of using so many plastic bin bags, then you can also buy some great paper alternatives.

Paper bin liners are very hygienic – they do their main job, which is to stop waste coming into contact with the bin and they are also biodegradable and compostable. Go for a paper bin liner with ‘full wet strength’ and you can be sure it won’t leak. Also, as the paper is breathable, you’ll get less bad smells coming from your bin.

You should also make sure your bins have close-fitting lids. These not only help reduce odours, but they keep out flies which might be attracted to the bin, particularly in warmer weather.

No matter whether you work in an office that’s large or small, chances are, you have a clutter problem. Some offices are trying to make the move to a ‘paperless environment’ in order to be more environmentally friendly, but, for the most part, there’s still a big need for good office bins in order to deal with the worst of the mess.

It can seem a bit of a pain, really, having to spend valuable working time, dealing with your rubbish, but there are some very good reasons why you should use your office bin. Firstly, there’s that old maxim of a clutter-free environment equalling a clutter-free mind. Chuck away your discarded plastic wrappings and put all your unnecessary paper in the paper recycling bin and see if it comes true.

Secondly, better organisation means better productivity. You could set up a range of office bins with different functions – one bin for paper, one for plastic, one for glass and one for general waste. Recycling as a matter of course is not only good for the environment but will mean you can highlight your energy efficiency to clients. All this from using a bin – could be worth it, after all.

Thirdly, studies suggest that office waste forms around 6% of all solid waste produced in the country, which is a lot, so spending some time setting up a good system of recycling bins will benefit everyone.

Also, bins don’t have to be big, ugly and intrusive. Increasingly, they come in a range of styles and materials to suit every need. You could get a sleek stainless steel bin to fit into a modern, clean office environment, or perhaps some funky plastic recycling bins to make being eco-friendly more attractive.

If you work in a large office with electrical equipment, it can also be worth having a separate bin for batteries as these need to be specially recycled due to the acid. There are companies you can hire to pick up your used batteries, so if you have a lot of them, it could be worth getting a separate bin for this purpose.

If you’re stuck at your desk a lot of the day with little time for moving around the office, you could get yourself a desktop office bin. These are small and discrete and are a good way to get rid of your rubbish instead of leaving it scattered around your desk. Alternatively, you could get a trusty waste paper basket and hide it under your desk.

Whether you’re a keen gardener, or just concerned about doing your bit to keep the planet healthy, it can be a good idea to invest in a couple of decent compost bins. This is not only a great way to recycling lots of your household waste, but the resulting compost is also brilliant for fertilising your garden.

There are a wide range of compost bins available, and which one you go for will probably depend on what type of compost you’re after.

One option is the moulded continuous composter. This is basically a large plastic container or bin where you can store your garden waste. Make sure the bin is full to the top as it works best when it is packed with stuff. Go for a cone bin with a narrow upper section and tight lid to recycle moisture internally and break the contents down into compost quickly.

Another compost bin option is the tumbler composter. These bins rotate to turn the whole heap of compost, aerating it and helping it decompose more quickly. They are especially good for large batches of kitchen waste or green foliage, although they’re not quite so good for tough, woody fibres so think carefully about what you put in this one.

Compost bins can be made from plastic or wood and both have their advantages.

Plastic is a great material for a compost bin as you can increasingly get hold of ones made out of recycled plastic, adding extra kudos to your green credentials. Recycled plastic is easy to mould, which has led to improved bin designs, like the tumbler composter as mentioned above. Plastic bins are also generally available as a large, single sheet of moulded plastic, which makes them ideal for transporting to new locations. They are maintenance free and come with fitted lids to keep out excess moisture.

Wooden bins, by contrast, generally come in a flat pack so you have to put them together yourself. It’s a good idea to position these against a wall so they have a bit of support. The conditions in wooden bins tend to be quite good, although make sure you treat the timber with a preservative to stop it rotting. It’s also a good idea to line the inside of the wooden bin with durable plastic to prevent the decomposition of the beams.

While we use them every day and have one in virtually every room of the home, office and even high street, few of us ever give the rubbish bin but thought. But bins, like most tools we use, are designed with different applications and practicalities in mind.

Use, type of waste, safety, ergonomics, health and hygiene are all issues that go into the design process of a rubbish or waste bin. And for bins around the home, style is also a factor with many designer, retro and stylized rubbish b ins produced to match the fixtures, furnishings and fittings of people’s homes.

Many bins seem quite innocuous but often there has been some clever design processes gone into their manufacture, here are some great bin designs.

The pedal bin – it has been around for decades but the pedal bin is one of those really ingenius and simple design solutions to a common problem. When we use bins in the kitchen, having to handle it can transfer germs, which , inevitably means every time we use the kitchen bin we have to wash our hands.

Pedal bins do away with this, which is why so many people use them. There are alternatives to the peal bin, designed to solve the same problem. Swing top bins allow food to be dropped on the top that yields (by swinging) to allow the items into the container. They do have a couple of drawbacks. Firstly a swing-top bin’s lid is not very tight so smells can easily seep out, and secondly, a swingtop can get dirty very quickly so it has to be cleaned regularly.

Sensor Bin - opens automatically

There is another solution, however, a modern and sophisticated one, the sensor bin. As the name suggests the sensor bins have an inbuilt sensor that can detect when you near the bin. With a battery powered electric motor the bin lid will rise and fall, giving you time dispose of the waste and doing away with the need to touch the bin.

Pedal, swing-top and sensor bins are three methods that designers have come across to solve a simple waste disposal problem and goes to show just how much thought goes into designing the humble rubbish bin.

Tags: household waste, kitchen bin, kitchen bins, pedal bins, sensor bns

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