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Garbage Can Designs That Ditch the "Can" Part to Save Material

By the UK's AJ Products

By Rain Noe - May 12, 2022

in Object Culture

These objects I'm about to show you almost seem like design school exercises, but they're all actually on the market. First, let's back up a sec to the classic wastebasket, the key part of that word being "basket." Prior to the invention of plastic films and garbage bags, this was where you threw waste. All that was needed was a vessel, and the basket was the most economical way to do this.

Eventually we transitioned to tin and later, pressed steel wastebaskets, as those materials were then abundant and affordable.

Then the garbage bag came around, and the vessel-like nature of the wastebasket was no longer truly necessary, as the bag is now the vessel. The basket or can is there to give the bag something to hang onto. Yet we've largely stuck with enclosed wastebaskets.

UK-based manufacturer AJ Products, which kits out offices, warehouses and workshops, makes wastebaskets that smack of an ID school assignment. Imagine the brief is to re-think the wastebasket or garbage can, and reduce them to only their necessary elements. That's how you'd get AJ's Pedal-operated refuse bag holder with lid:

"This pedal-operated, refuse bag holder can hold any size refuse bag, making it ideal for many different locations from schools and offices to train stations and warehouses. Made from sheet steel with a white, epoxy powder-coated finish, the sack holder is fitted with an elasticated bag cord around the top of the holder to keep the refuse sack securely in place. The lid improves hygiene by keeping waste covered while the pedal operation allows you to deposit rubbish without touching the bin. Use the sack holder with transparent bin bags to improve security."

This plastic-base alternative is intended for environments where rust or damage is a concern:

This wall-mounted version uses even less material, though the lid must be manually opened, which I imagine would be unpopular these days:

This light-duty rolling version doesn't feature a lid at all. I can see it mostly being useful in a light manufacturing environment—say, a sewing facility—where it occasionally needs to be moved a few feet to either side:

And this heavier-duty rolling version with handles and more robust casters would be useful in a shop environment or rolling clean-up situation, like going from desk-to-desk in an office. You've likely seen some version of this in a hotel hallway:

You can see more of AJ Products' offerings here. (I liked looking around in their Warehouse & Workshop section the most.)

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Praylene Dikshoorn

2 years ago

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I agree with the plastic bag lining the bin, it helps with the smell too.

Looking at the main design and a few others, you could put an adjustment toggle (like the ones they use to make tents, gazebos, and crutches) into the back or side supports for different size bags. For factories, the biggest available bag is the best option, but in a residential/office space, we use smaller bags because there is not that much that we throw away.

I mean, if you are at the office and you have this bin, but it is too big to fit under the desk so then it has to sit in the walkway. Even with thinner film, support is required from the bottom to ensure that the bag does not rip under the weight of the contents.

I think one of the reasons prefer a 'full' bin is that the bag sticking out is unappealing. However, there are places where that aspect is not important. In a light manufacturing environment, where you'd throw offcuts of material, I'd use a material sack instead of a plastic bag because the material sack can hold more weight. Then the owner can sell or give the sack to fashion design schools, and their finished projects can be given to the less fortunate, cycle of life.

Yes the bag is unappealing, but if the bin is placed under a desk or in a counter (with the pull out dustbin drawer design you get in kitchens) – everything is hidden from the rest of the world anyway – it does not matter if the bag is visible, but then again why would you want to hide the new bin you just bought, first of its kind, you would want to show it off.

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Zach W

2 years ago

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Oddly enough the old trash can versions are much more sustainable... A trash can does not "need" a plastic trash bag liner but these designs sure do... Not sure if this is an improvement.

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- Juan Cano
  
  Zach W
  
  2 years ago
  
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  True, but if you don't use a liner, you are having to wash it once a week or something, specially in a kitchen environment.
  
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- Dee An
  
  Zach W
  
  2 years ago
  
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  If you compare the mass of polyethylene used in a bin liner to the mass of its intended contents, it's usually a rounding error.
  Ditto for the energy used in manufacturing a bin liner compared to the energy required to wash and sterilise a plastic trash can.
  Also, what does one empty a plastic trash can into? Not all facilities have a skip (sorry, *dumpster*) outside.
  And materials handling: a janitor can collect the full bags from multiple stations on one trip around the building. This is not true if he has to collect, empty and return multiple plastic bins.
  Yes, we must reduce plastic use and waste. But we must do so intelligently.
  
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