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.

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.

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.

Providing public litter bins and waste containers is not as simple a task as it may first appear. There is more to the humble outdoor and public bin than just being a receptacle for rubbish. And quite often, if when local authorities, hospitals or other public body gets their waste bin decisions wrong – it can be disastrous and expensive.

There is so much to think of when supplying public bins and there is more to it than just supplying somewhere for the public to throw their litter.

Size, quantity and location

highly important as too small a bin, not enough of them or the wrong locations will just ensure littering continues. Establish the footfall in the area; what type of businesses are in the location (such as fast food places) and how often the bins get empties to ensure you get the right size and quantity. And place them where they are clearly visible and easy to access – a bin outside a fast food restaurant should be outside, not across the road!

Smells

If there are food businesses around then you will need to ensure that there is appropriate external bins provided for customers. These will need lids as the smell of rotting food is not only unpleasant it will attract vermin.

Transparent bins prevent explosive devices from being hidden

Fire retardant and Bomb threats

Often a consideration in public buildings like hospitals. Litter can often a be a source of fire so fire retardant bins are important as lives could be at risk. Also in public areas bins and waste containers have been used by terrorists and many public areas in countries that suffer this sort of problem use transparent bins to prevent the hiding of explosives.

Vandalism

A public bin needs to be tough and secure enough that it can’t be tipped over by vandals otherwise it will constantly get kicked over, spewing litter across the public are – making the bin pointless.

Sanitary Bins

In places like hospitals or public washrooms appropriate sanitary bins need to be used to prevent spread of disease. Regular bins should never be used for things like ladies hygiene products or waste bandages.

Recycling is now compulsory in many areas of the country. It is no longer something that just a few people do that are conscious about the environment. Recycling is now a prerequisite for many householders and is often enforced with fines or a refusal to collect rubbish.

But is can be a confusing issue, especially considering the different schemes that run up and down the country where different materials are accepted for recycling. Often there is a lot of disparity in the number of recycling bins and what items can go in each too which adds to the confusion.

However, if recycling is compulsory then local authority recycling bins should be provided to most householders with instructions as to what can be placed in each. In general recycled materials can be summed in the following categories:

Different Recycling Materials:

Metals – both ferrous and non ferrous, often both can be placed in the same recycling bin.

Plastics – Many local authorities can’t yet recycle plastic but there are a few that do and plastics these would therefore have to be separated from the general household waste that would go into the conventional rubbish bin.

Paper – Paper and card are recycled by most local authorities. Sometimes large tubs or containers are used rather than  paper recycling bins doesn’t cause smells of other environmental hazards.

Food/organic waste – This can’t really be recycled by your local authority but you can do so at home by composting. Food waste rots anyway so it doesn’t pose too much of an environmental hazard.

Ceramics – Again, not all authorities will recycle ceramics and some will combine it with glass recycling too.

Clothing/fabrics – A lot of clothes that aren’t worn can be distributed to needy causes but fabrics can be recycled too so enquire to what schemes are on in your area.

Glass/bottles – Some authorities expect you to go the bottle bank, others will provide you with a recycling bin for glass

Garden Waste – this can be used by local authorities and recycled and often gardening bins are provided to recycle grass cuttings and the like.

In some local authorities many of the above items can be placed in the same recycling bin, in others separate recycling bins are provided (in one local council in the UK – nine different recycling bins have been supplied to residents) so it is important to check what can go in each bin.

One of the unforeseen challenges to any business, local authority, council, institute or contractor is equipping a new building or facility with refuse bins. Waste bins after all are a common-or-garden object, so how difficult can it be?

Well actually, choosing the wrong type of bin can have all sorts of repercussions in the smooth running of any building or institute. Ensuring you kit any building out with the right equipment is crucial and making sure you select the right bins is no different. Not only can litter and mess build-up if the right bins are not provided but all sort of other problems can occur – from vermin to potential fires.

Essentially there are four things to think about when supply bins for a building, facility or institute:

Type of Waste

The first thing to think about is the type of waste that is disposed of. This will go along way in helping you decide what type of rubbish or waste bin is required. If food waste is being disposed of a good kitchen bin with appropriate lid is essential and so is an external bin capable of repelling vermin and pests and also keeping smells at bay.

In most offices, the largest volume of waste is paper based. Whilst simple waste paper baskets are adequate inside the building, you will need to ensure any external bins are fire retardant in case the paper is accidentally or deliberately ignited.

Fire retardant bins should be considered if combustible materials like paper is discared in quantity

Size of Bin Required

The size of both internal and external bins relies on two points:

* The frequency of emptying

* The amount of waste discarded

Location of bins

Another aspect to get right is ensuring the bins are in the right place. If bins are in the wrong location littering and waste time can often occur. Think of the workforce and where they will be when they require a waste bin.

Volume required

Ensuring you have enough bins is also important as is choose the right bin for the location too – kitchen bins should be provided where food is served and in bathrooms some sort of sanitary bin will be required.

Health and hygiene are perhaps the most important and feared words in the fast food business. Nothing will close a takeaway quicker than accusations of bad hygiene or lack of pest control. If the environmental health don’t close you down, the lack of custom surely will.

It is a constant battle in the catering business to keep on top of hygiene. Letting it slip can lead to disaster but often businesses suffer problems with hygiene through no fault of their own.

Customers who discard food near premises can often attract vermin and pests which then gets associated with the restaurant. This can often lead to problems with the authority and a bad reputation will start to drivie customers away. At the very least, discarded food litter will upset the local residents and neighbours causing trouble any business could do without.

And on other occasions, despite the best efforts of the proprietors, problems still occur, quite often unexpectedly.

However, often the culprit can be the humble rubbish bin used by restaurants, kitchens and fast food takeaways. Often the wrong bin is used and this can lead to the problems mentioned above, let me explain:

When discarding food from the kitchen its essential it goes in a bin with a good lid. Leaving food in rubbish bags out the back will just attract cats, foxes, rats and worse. Make sure all food waste is discarded in good quality exterior bins with strong lids to prevent vermin from opening them.

To prevent customers from discarding rubbish, make sure your premises has a good sized bin out the front. If there isn’t one from the council ask if you can provide one, explain how you wish to reduce litter and they will most probably agree. A good sized litter bin that is regularly emptied will discourage customers from throwing litter. At the very least it will demonstrate you have tried your best to ensure the environment is litter-free.

L:itter bins outside will help stop customers throwing litter down

Good quality kitchen bins are also a must as even small scraps of food lying about will attract mice or cockroaches, both of which will force closure of a restaurant until they are controlled. For more advice on health and hygiene speak to your local council.

The bin plays a vital role in the care sector and other service industries. It is a crucial part in ensuring hygiene and plays a part in the fight against hospital acquired infections.

Care sector bins have to function under far more demanding circumstances that conventional rubbish receptacles. From the type of waste to the vast quantities of waste that can accumulate in the care or service industry means that when it comes to sourcing bins for the service or care sector, a lot of thought needs to go into it.

Firstly, the type of material that is discarded will influence the type of receptacle required. Any service industry or care work that involves infants will need somewhere to dispose of soiled nappies. Smells and risk of access from children means that large nappy bins have to have a good fitting lid.

Sanitary bins

Other types of sanitary bins are required in the care sector too. Geriatric care and medical procedures require bins to dispose of this material. Any sanitary bin has to store items that have the potential to cause infection so the quality of the bin can’t be a compromise.

Fire retardant bins are also a consideration in many buildings in the care and service sector. Any public bin at a hospital has to be fire retardant as the risks of a fire could be catastrophic so most hospital bins are fire retardant.

Finally, you must plan carefully remember the to assess how much waste is going to be disposed of and of what type. It is also crucial to know how often the bin will be emptied as this will have a large impact on the size required. Also think of the people that will be using the bins. Children need to be prevented from accessing hazardous material while any bins that re to be accessed by the aged or infirm needs to be easy to use.

Sourcing and buying good quality bins for the service sector isn’t necessarily difficult. Choose a vendor with experience and that can supply a large range of bins to ensure you are always supplied with they type you need.