Many of us may think of the humble waste bin as just a simple receptacle for throwing our rubbish in; however, there are a wide variety of different types of rubbish bin, all designed for different tasks and purposes.

Design is highly important when it comes to selecting the right type of waste bin. So when you are looking to buy a rubbish bin, whether its for the home, business or institution, there are several aspects of bin design you should look out for.

Practicality

The most important facet of any bin is its practicality. However it is to be used it needs to be practical. When you are looking to buy a bin think about how it will be used – is it high enough and easy to throw waste in?

The size too is highly important. Think how much waste will go in and how often it will be emptied. If it is too small you can end up with an overflowing bin while too large a bin can be difficult to empty and handle.

Lids

The lid is highly important on many rubbish receptacles. While waste paper bins don’t need them your kitchen will soon reek if the kitchen bin doesn’t have a decent lid. The design of the lid here is important for practicality too.

A kitchen bin should have a pedal operated lid or another method that prevents you from having to touch it; sensor bins are the latest method for hands free bin use.

Durability

If it is an outdoor bin it needs to be durable. Not only has it got to sit out in all weathers and be manhandled by the refuse collectors, but also it needs to be sturdy enough so that vermin can’t it over or remove the lid. If it is a pubic area it perhaps should be floor or a wall mounted bin to prevent vandalism.

Bins can be stylish and practical

Style

Style is also an important facet for bin design, especially for those we around the home. Nearly every room has a waste bin sat in the corner so it needs to fit in with the décor and style of home. Some really nice designer bins are available manufactured from a wide range of materials, these can be proudly displayed rather than half-hidden behind the furniture.

Waste management is perhaps more important for hospitals than any other industry or institution. Hospitals produce vast amounts of waste and refuse from all manner of sources and not all of it can just be thrown into the rubbish bins.

There are two types of waste produced by hospitals and medical settings: clinical waste, which is produced by medical procedures, and standard refuse.

Clinical waste
Clinical waste is generated from surgical procedures and contains six different types of waste, the disposal of which is strictly controlled by legislation and procedures:

• Sharps: hypodermic needles, scalpels and other sharp metallic items that have to be disposed of in special sharps bins. These are sanitary bins that are clearly marked hazardous and are designed to prevent accidental insertion of hands or digits which could lead to infection and contamination.
• Infectious – waste that can cause the spread of infection. Bandages, suture and other items that has human detritus on it has to also be disposed in a sanitary bin – which also has to be clearly marked and disposed of following correct procedures.
• Pathological: these are body parts such as human tissue which is strictly controlled in its disposal. Traditional incineration was used but more and more frequently other less environmentally damaging methods are used.
• Pharmaceuticals: drugs and chemicals that are disposed off are also strictly controlled.
• Radioactive: less common but as equally controlled; radioactive waste is often generated by x-rays and radiotherapy procedures.

Hotel Bins often have to be fire retardant

General Refuse

Hospitals also produce vast quantities of general refuse and waste too. Generated from patients, visitors, staff, offices, kitchens etc. etc. And while there are no strict guidelines for this type of waste there are things to remember when it comes to dealing with refuse in hospitals.

Hygiene is often a major factor and nurses and doctors really don’t want to handle a bin to dispose of a piece of paper as it would force them to go through their vigorous hand washing procedures. For this reason many hospital bins are pedal operated which helps reduce the risk of cross contamination too.

Another consideration for hospital bins is safety and security. Fire retardant bins are a must on wards and corridors. If a fire starts in a hospital it could lead to catastrophic loss of life Equally in this day and age, see through hospital bins are used to prevent the hiding of suspect packages.

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

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.

Whether you running a public building, private business or are part of the service sector you are responsible for the rubbish you accumulate and dispose of. For most people that is a case of simply throwing the waste in the outdoor bin until it is collected. However, health, hygiene and safety risks can occur in many locations where waste is stored outdoors.

From the rear of fast food takeaways to the outdoor bins at schools, hospitals and other public locations, it is vital that proper steps are taking to prevent accident, injury of health problems due to poor waste management.

Outdoor bins can cause the following issues:

• Fire
• Safety
• Smells
• Pests

But preventing and eliminating these problems is straightforward by following these steps:

Fire risk

Fire retardant bins are commonly used in hotels and hospitals, as a fire in an indoor bin could have catastrophic consequences. However, when combustible material, including paper, is being disposed of, fire retardant bins are often worth considering. If an outdoor bin does set alight there is a possibility it could affect neighbouring buildings.

Safety

Safety is important as outdoor bins can be very large receptacles. An outdoor bin, if full, it could cause serious injury if it toppled on somebody. People can also be prone to get inside large bins as a prank or to retrieve items, this too can lead to serious injury. Ensuring the bin is secure and unlikely to topple or be able to cause injury in other ways is important to prevent liability. Any waste that could be considered dangerous should be disposed of responsibly which may mean a specialist bin.

Smells

Outdoor bins need to be safe

A common problem with some outdoor bins, especially restaurant bins and those outside takeaways. Smells can attract pests, flies and be generally unpleasant for the local community. Bin deodorizers are available to reduce problems but regular emptying and a good fitting lid should reduce thee problems.

Pests

Different types of pests can cause different problems. Flies, cockroaches and rodents can invade buildings and force closures of food premises, whilst larger animals like foxes, raccoons and domestic pets will knock bins over and cause mess. Again, a secure fitting lid and sturdy outdoor bin will provide the solution.

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

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.

Waste is a key part of any business -whilst reducing waste can help increase profitability – it can never be totally eliminated and all businesses have to deal cope with waste management.

Rubbish and waste in some businesses is often minimal and requires little more thought than the removal of rubbish from our homes does. However, in some industries, rubbish removal and waste management can be an integral part of a running a successful business and should never be dealt with lightly:

Food Industry

In the UK there are more fast-food restaurants, diners and takeaways, per person than in any other nation on earth* and all that takeaway food can result in masses of waste that the fast food industry has to deal with.

In the fast food business the rubbish discarded comes in two types:

• Packaging and wrapping
• Food waste

And each has to be dealt with differently.

Packaging and wrapping from fast food items is often discarded close to the premises and businesses need to work with their local authority to ensure there are enough public bins and external bins for litter.

Food waste has to be handled differently, however. Food can attract vermin and can also lead to unpleasant smells. For general use inside the business a good kitchen bin should be used. It needs to be large enough to handle day-to-day waste while also should have a well-fitted lid. You may find for ease of use a pedal bin or sensor bin will be prevent the need from handling it.

Externally – food waste needs to be stored in an outdoor bin which also has a good lid. External bins will also need to be sturdy to prevent them being toppled by vermin.

Office Paper and Recycling

Offices are another common business area that can amass large amounts of waste. Generally most office waste comes in the form of paper.

Paper can of course be recycled so a good paper recycling bin or container should be kept to allow the paper to be collected and recycled. There should be some risk assessment into storing paper as it is a potential fire risk. If waste aper is discarded to an outdoor area a fire retardant bin might be worth a consideration.

Large Capacity Recycling Bin

Steel large capacity recycling bins are a good idea for nearly all types of businesses that discards a lot of recyclable material. There are also recycling bins for collection of plastic cups – another common item discarded from business.

There has been quite a bit of bad press about the littering caused by students in some university towns. And in many areas where residents live in local proximity to local schools, college or universities, littering is a cause for tension between the local community and the educational establishment.

The problem with litter around education buildings is the sheer number of people that use these areas. But neither the students or the schools or colleges are to blame. Often the cause of the littering and the discontent amongst the local community is as a result of bad planning with the areas litter bins and bins for the public.

Student Lifestyle

Students also have an active lifestyle and consume more packaging and fast food products than regular consumers which often leads to a greater amount of litter in areas with a high student population.

This is often overlooked by local authorities who find that the number, type and frequency of emptying of their litter bins is often underestimated causing overflowing bins and strewn litter.

Bin collections too are often too infrequent in these locations and it is often forgotten that in student areas there are many adults living under the same roof so the amount of household litter will also be higher than in residential areas.

Increasing the frequency of collections in these areas will reduce the litter in the residential parts of town.

Public Bins

Around the high street the public bins may need replacing or increasing in number. If there is littering then it is likely there is one of three problems:

• There are not enough public outdoor bins
• The outdoor bins are not large enough
• The public bins are in the wrong location

If the local bins are often full then the problem is going to be size or number. However, it is quite common for the high street litter bins to be half empty but there is still a high level of litter. This may often be because the litter bins are in the wrong location. Ensure fast food outlets and main thoroughfares are covered with large capacity outdoor bins.

Public litter bins

Increasing the number of bins around an area will also reduce the amount of litter but this there is often an added cost to doing this as there will be more bins to empty. By replacing the public litter bins with larger ones this will prevent additional costs from occurring.

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

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.