Archive for the ‘bin facts’ Category

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Avoiding Bin Smells – Rubbish and Hygiene Tips

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

There is nothing worse than a smelly bin. If it’s outside the home it can cause a nuisance to neighbours, attract vermin and make your home unpleasant to visitors, while a stinky bin inside the home will make the whole house smell and can take ages to air.

The biggest weapon against bin smells is the bin lid, a poorly fitting lid is the cause of many unnecessary bin smells. If a kitchen or exterior bin has a decent lid then the majority of smells can be avoided. These types of bin often contain the smelliest of waste such as kitchen scraps, soiled nappies and so on, but if they are stored in a receptacle with a tight enough lid the smells shouldn’t creep out.

Kitchen bins, for instance need to have a decent lid that fits snugly, this does have the problem of having to frequently open the bin, but an open bin in the kitchen will stink in next to no time. Nappy bins are another example and these have snugly-fitting lids to ensure no unpleasant smells escape.

Keeping a bin clean is another cause for bin smells and often they can get neglected when it comes to cleaning. Both the interior and exterior of a bin needs cleaning on a regular basis, many people give them a good wipe with a damp cloth every time they are emptied and normally this is enough to ensure they stay clean.

For bins which have to endure a lot of smelly waste, bin deodorizers will help prevent the smells from becoming too overpowering when the bin is emptied. Bin deodorizers are good for kitchen bins too if you have been cooking with stronger smelling ingredients than usual.

Another sure-fire way of reducing bin smells is to ensure they are emptied frequently enough. Food waste that has been left for a week is going to have become rotten and will inevitably smell, so ensuring the kitchen bin is emptied on a frequent enough basis will reduce the risks of bin smells  causing the house to stink.

 

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Coping with Christmas Rubbish and Waste

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

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

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.

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Hands Free Bin Design

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

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

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.

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Children and Bins Safety and Requirements

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Rubbish bins are a necessary requirement of public bodies, institutions and businesses that work with children. Nurseries, schools and colleges generate a lot of waste and providing receptacles for safe and hygienic disposal is important; however, children and bins can often come into conflict and preventing injury, mess or damage is important when providing waste bins where there are children around.

From a young age bins are a part of helping bring up children. Nurseries require bins, not just to put the litter and waste into but also nappy bins as more and more parents wish to bring their children up in a more environmentally responsible manner.

Nappy bins need to be kept secure in nurseries and play schools. They should be large enough to cope with the waste requirements and sturdy enough to prevent little fingers from tipping it over. A 65 litre nappy bin is a good recommendation. It should be large enough for even the busiest nursery or care centre and sturdy enough to prevent accidental tipping.

65l nappy bin

65l nappy bin

Nappy bins should have a tight fitting lid to prevent smells too. This is essential and you should never overfill one, either.

For schools, while nappy bins are no longer a requirement, sanitary bins are required for older children’s bathrooms. These should be proper sanitary bins which prevent smell, infection and mess. As for the bins used by the rest of the students around the school, they should be large bins to cope with the waste of a busy school but should also be fixed.

Wall mounted bins prevent the bin from being either accidentally or deliberately tipped over and for areas like the canteen large sack-holders will be able to cope with the high demands. These can be quickly emptied and refilled and are ideal for busy areas.

Recycling bins should also be used, especially for items like glass. This is not just for environmental reasons, either. Glass bottles hanging around regular bins can lead to problems and is best stored in a bottle containers where it, or anyone else, can’t cause harm.

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Posted in bin facts, Bins for Care sector, nappy bin, public bins, sanitary bin, school litter bin | No Comments »

The Grim Side of Bins

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Over the last few weeks, the wheelie bin has become the centre of some unwanted attention after a woman was filmed placing a cat into it, seemingly for no reason. The story went around the world and the woman was (quite rightly) condemned from all directions; however, this incident was not isolated and the sad fact of the matter is, that bins, and in particular wheelie bins have been used for all sorts of sinister purposes over the years, and the latest incident is only one of several grim tales.

Animals are commonly found dumped in bins and the latest story at least had a happy ending in that the cat was retrieved safe and well, but many animals are found in public bins and not all of them are alive. Yet, it gets worse. New born and unwanted babies are also commonly found in bins – the Americans even have a term for it: ‛trash can baby’

It is because bins, especially large ones like wheelie bins have a lid and are unused for long periods of time that people use them for such sad reasons but wheelie bins have also been used for even grimmer purposes.

Several bodies have been discovered in wheelies bins, not to mention body parts, although this is often a mistake by the criminal as they are good places to preserve evidence as the bin lid keeps the elements away, making it easier for police to track the culprits.

Contraband, such as drugs and guns, are often discovered in outdoor and public bins too, and terrorists have been known to use them to hide explosive devices in – often in busy public areas to cause large scale mayhem. In areas like these it is common to see simple sack holders with transparent bags being used as bins to prevent anything sinister being planted and hidden in them.

Bins themselves have also been known to cause incidents too. Because burnable material like waste paper is often disposed of in bins, they can easily catch alight which is why in many places like hotels, hospitals and other pubic buildings, fire retardant bins are used.

Despite all these grim associations with bins, they are a real necessity and we would be awash with litter, rubbish and detritus without them. So next time somebody buts something in a rubbish bin – lets not blame the bin.

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The Modern Rubbish Bin – Types, Changes and History

Friday, July 9th, 2010

They are everywhere; on roadsides, along pavements, in our homes, front drives and at work. We hardly give them a second thought but the humble rubbish or waste bin does a highly important job that keep our homes, streets and city centres clean.

There are several types of waste bin used by each of us. There are those that we dispose of our waste at home or work. The outdoor bin where this rubbish is stored until collected by the local authority of waste management company, then there are the public litter bins provided for us on the high street to ensure our streets are kept clear.

But there are other types of rubbish receptacles that are increasingly being commonly used, including:

  • Recycling bins
  • Gardening bins
  • Bin banks for bottles and cans

At Home

Many of us may remember the traditional dustbin that most homes had. Either metal of plastic it was this bin that stored all our household waste until it was emptied by the dustmen.

However, increasingly as more local authorities have switched to fortnightly collections and the need to reduce landfill and encourage recycling, these types of outdoor bin have slowly disappeared from our neighbourhoods, to be replaced instead by wheelie bins and recycling bins.

At Work

Similar changes have happened around the workplace too. Recycling is now much more common at our places of work, although the business sector has a long way to go to achieve the same levels of recycling that happens in the domestic environment.

However, it increasingly common for business, especially offices to recycle paper in paper recycling containers. Other recycling containers such as cup collectors that are used to recycle disposable coffee cups from dispensing machines.

Transparent bins prevent explosive devices from being hidden

Transparent bins prevent explosive devices from being hidden

In Public Areas

Bins in public locations such as along the high street or in parks are often immobilized by being floor or wall mounted to prevent vandals (and even theft) and vermin from emptying the bins.

However in recent years it has been commonplace for terrorists to use bins to hide explosive devices this has led to a decline in the number of bins in enclosed areas such as railways, airports and shopping centres although transparent bins can often be used in these areas – often a clear bin bag suspended from a frame.

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Litter, Rubbish and Recycling for Beginners

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Rubbish and litter is an inevitability. Everybody accumulates waste and rubbish that has to be disposed of. The average person in the United Kingdom disposes of over 5 kilos of rubbish a week in their rubbish bin – a quarter of a tonne a year.

All that waste has to go somewhere too. It is either buried in landfills, burnt or it can be recycled. However, not everything can be recycled and much of what we throw away in our rubbish bins isn’t biodegradable, meaning it can linger around landfills for decades – damaging the environment in the process.

Types of rubbish

The type of rubbish we throw away can be divided into five different categories. Some of which is biodegradable, some which isn’t:

  • Plastic – Most plastics aren’t biodegradable. Many can’t be recycled either which is why the use of plastics is becoming an increasing environmental concern.
  • Paper/card – from packaging to newspapers most paper can be recycled in some for or another. Paper recycling bins and recycling containers make it easy to store before it is taken away.
  • Tins and metals – Most metals can be recycled and special recycling facilities exist in most towns and cities to deal with it.
  • Ceramics and glass – Both can be recycled so look out for bottle banks or glass recycling bins.
  • Organic waste – from lawn trimmings to the garden to food scraps fro the kitchen. The least harmful to the environment, organic waste is useful as compost and fertilisers.

Recycling

Recycling is essential if we are to keep in check our growing need for landfill and the increase in rubbish that is being discarded. Different types of recycling bins are available for both public and home use.

Household recycling bins, for inside the home, are often separated into compartments to make recycling easier. The rubbish can then be disposed of in the relevant outdoor bins. Often recycling bins are colour coded to make the process easier.

Can bank

Can bank

Non-recyclable waste

Waste that is thrown in the rubbish bin and can’t be recycled can become a nuisance, especially many plastics that linger in the environment. Look to ways to reduce the amount of plastics and packaging you consume to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill. You will be surprised at how little you really do need to throw away in the waste bin.

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Hotel Rubbish

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

While I have stayed in many rubbish hotels, I have yet to stay in one made from rubbish. Yet, environmental campaigners in Rome have done just that.

To raise awareness of pollution the campaigners have constructed a temporary hotel made nearly completely from rubbish. Complete with five rooms and a reception it is lined with tonnes of rubbish from tin cans, to car exhaust pipes.

While the campaigners are trying to raise awareness about the problem waste can cause, it also highlights another problem. How public buildings, like hotels deal with tonnes of waste that is thrown away in their buildings.

Hotels, shops, bars, restaurants and other public buildings accumulate vast amounts of waste from the people that visit, work or use the facilities and it is a perennial headache for those running these buildings to ensure the waste is disposed of.

Hotel Bins often have to be fire retardant

Hotel Bins often have to be fire retardant

Public Bins

Public bins do differ to the household bins that we use at home. There are other aspects to think of when supplying bins for the public. Quantity, size and safety are important factors.

As an example, bins for hotels quite often need to be fire retardant bins as the consequence of a clumsily disposed of cigarette could be catastrophic.

Another problem with public bins is the quantity of waste and the frequency of emptying. Us householders may be able to go a week without seeing the dustman but this is not possible when there are vast amounts of waste accumulating in public buildings.

Often places like hotels will have large capacity outdoor bins. These large external bins can hold several day’s worth of rubbish and are often emptied frequently by independent contractors.

The actual indoor bins themselves in public buildings are also larger in capacity than kitchen bins or other household rubbish receptacles. It is also often a full-time job to ensure bins in public buildings are emptied frequently enough, even with these large capacity litter bins.

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Parks and Open Spaces – Litter Bins

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Britain has the largest number of public parks and open spaces than any other country in Europe. There are dozens of urban parklands in many of our major cities and conurbations. However, as pleasurable as these urban natural oasis are they are expensive to maintain.

Councils and local authorities have to invest huge amounts of tax payers money in ensuring these public spaces are kept clean, tidy and safe. And one of the biggest enemy’s of this perennial task – is litter.

Littering costs local authorities a fortune and unlike in the city, it is a particularly challenging job to clean it up in parks and open spaces because of the large areas involved. Not only is litter in parks unattractive but also some litter can pose a hazard to the many children and families that use the parks. Litter can also attract vermin which can be difficult to get rid of and can cause its own problems.

Litter bins

Your number one defence in ensuring any public area is litter free is the public waste bin. Litter bins will help people act responsible when it comes disposing of their waste – as long as they are clearly visible. A good quantity of large outdoor bins will prevent a lot of the litter that can be carelessly discarded but attention needs to be paid to the location of the bins, the size and the frequency of emptying.

Ensuring areas of high usage such as near where ice cream vendors operate will prevent many of the litter problems that can occur in those areas. But other types of bin should also be considered.

Gardening bins and other outdoor bins should also be plentiful for the park’s workers as having to return to bins too frequently is time consuming.

Litter Bins for Local Authorities

Litter Bins for Local Authorities

Some thought should also go into what to do with any sanitary and hazardous waste. This should obviously be removed as soon as possible, taking every precaution, and a good sanitary bin would be a good idea to ensure it can be stored safely until it can be properly disposed of.

Other Litter Prevention

Dog fouling is another problem in park areas so ensuring there are facilities to dispose of this type of waste will, as with littering, will help encourage dog owners to be responsible.

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Weird and Novel Bins

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Litter and rubbish bins are a practical and important part of keeping the world clean. We couldn’t live without them and one is probably sat no more than a few feet from you as you read this, but very few of us pay the humble rubbish bin any attention.

However, there are a few people who have found not only novel uses for some bins but also there are some weird and wacky bins out there.

Wheelie bin urinal

Perhaps the most bizzare bin in the world - this bin has an inbuilt urinal

Perhaps the most bizzare bin in the world - this bin has an inbuilt urinal

Whoever thought of this must have been on the way home from the pub at the time. The idea is to prevent people from urinating in public but surely wouldn’t a toilet be a better solution?

Novelty Bins

There are bins representing almost every possible comic book and cartoon character out there. This is perhaps my favourite:

Feel the Force - a Novelty Star Wars Bin

Feel the Force - a Novelty Star Wars Bin

The R2D2 bin is a great homage to the Star Wars film and a great way of helping to clean up the Empire.

Novel uses of bins

With a growing number of abandoned puppies being dumped on the German streets – the obvious solution – a puppy bin. But don’t worry, any abandoned puppy left in the puppy bin will be re-homed – lets just home they don’t find a litter of them in there!

The practical Bin

All these bins provide a fun approach to dealing with our litter. However, while novelty bins may brighten our day they are unlikely to provide a practical solution to preventing rubbish and litter. Rubbish bins are an important aspect to keeping the environment clean and choosing the right bin is important in preventing littering or other hygiene problems.

In providing litter bins you should always ensure the bins are :

Robust

Have a tight fitting lid

Be practical to use

Large enough to cope between being emptied

Plentiful

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