|  | Public Health Safety | Public Health

Types of Bins for Waste

In 2008, Americans generated 250 million tons of trash, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That amounts to 4.5 pounds of trash every day for each person in the country. However, many communities, businesses, and individuals are cutting down on trash by reducing its source and recycling. Different types of waste bins are used to store trash until it's disposed of.

  1. Trash Can

    • "Trash can" is a general term that applies to a wide range of bins designed to hold either residential or commercial waste. They're usually made out of metal or plastic but can also be made from wood or rubber. Sizes range from 5 to 50 gallons or more. A step trash can allows someone to open the can by stepping on a lever. Other touchless trash cans use motion infrared or sensor technology to open the can so you don't have to touch the bin itself. "Wheelie bins" have wheels on them to make them easier to move. Trash cans are usually placed in the kitchen, bathroom and office. They're also known as dustbins, rubbish bins, garbage cans or wastebaskets.

    Dumpster

    • Dumpsters are large steel trash containers designed to be emptied into a garbage truck. Types of dumpsters include front loaders, rear loaders and roll offs.

      Front loaders are often used by commercial or industrial businesses and are made to be emptied into front-loading garbage trucks. Front-loading garbage trucks use an automated fork on the front of the truck to pick up the dumpster, lift it over the truck and flip it upside down so it can be emptied into the truck's hopper.

      As the name implies, rear loaders are designed to be emptied into rear-loader garbage trucks. These are the trucks most people think of when they think of garbage trucks. They have an opening in the back where trash is thrown. Rear-loader bins are built to fit a groove in the truck. The truck uses a chain or cable system to turn the loader over so the trash can slide into the hopper. Roll-off containers are usually used for cleaning up large projects like construction or demolition. Roll-off trucks use a cable-and-winch system to pull a filled dumpster onto the truck. Roll-off dumpsters are meant to carry solid waste only. Toxic substances, hazardous substances, explosives, biomedical supplies, and volatile liquids aren't allowed in them.

    Recycling

    • Recycling bins allow you to sort waste into different categories for recycling. This might include newspaper and magazines, cardboard, glass, aluminum, tin and plastics, depending where you live. Bins come in different sizes designed for home use or public collection. Some home and office containers can be stacked to save space. Bins have different colored bins that can be used to make sorting items easier. Recycling bins often contain a recycling symbol on them to distinguish them from other containers used to collect trash.

Public Health - Related Articles