A garbage can is just a garbage can, right? Absolutely not! At first glance it may not seem like a crucial business decision, but choosing the right garbage container can make your customers more comfortable and your business a pleasant place to visit.
Just consider all your choices: Galvanized pails and cans with lids, recycling bins, round plastic trash cans, round top receptacles with swinging lids, square trash cans with lids, wastebaskets, tilt and wheel trash cans with lids, round plastic trash can with dome lids, tilt trucks and specialty containers such as wall hugger receptacles. All of these commercial trash can styles, by the way, are available at Worldwide Janitor.
So, how do you pick the perfect waste receptacle for your business and its unique needs? Read on:
Go trash picking. Before you can decide on the most appropriate garbage can, you need to know what kind of waste is being thrown away. This is probably the most important step in picking a new garbage can.
In an office environment, for example, a lot of the stuff in the trash is probably going to be paper. In this case, you don’t need a fancy receptacle as any small, standard open wastebasket will do the job.
However, if your employees are throwing away food from their lunch at their desk, that could be a problem and you may want to purchase a centrally-located lidded container designated for food only.
Consider the space. Different rooms call for different types of garbage containers. It would be a mistake to place that small wastebasket in a busy restroom, for example. With all the paper waste in a restroom, you’ll need a lidded container that not only keeps all the paper towels off the floor, but also conceals the unattractive waste.
The employee kitchen or lunchroom is another area where you will want a larger garbage can model to handle a bigger volume of waste. You’ll likely also want the garbage can to have a hands-free opening to encourage use and automatically close the lid to hide the unsightly, smelly food waste.
Wear and tear. Think about how you will be disposing of the waste in the garbage cans. If the receptacle will be taking a trip outside, will you be able to lug it out to the curb? Many larger trash containers have sturdy handles and other features, like wheels, that make it easy to transport them anywhere.
Inside or out? Indoor garbage receptacles can be a lot less sturdy than those that will be going outside. Just about any plastic container that is well suited for the room will do.
Outdoor garbage cans need to be able to withstand the elements, stand tall in windy conditions and even be able to outsmart some clever dogs, cats and wildlife that wander into urban spaces in search of food, like raccoons.
Keep it clean. Whatever type of garbage can you choose, make sure to keep it clean and odor-free. Employees will be messy, so it is important to give each receptacle a good, solid weekly cleaning.
Wipe down the outside of the container to remove any drips or unsightly marks. Pour cleaning solution inside the empty can to disinfect and remove any odors before rinsing and drying thoroughly and replacing the trash liner.
A word about liners. While the type of garbage can you select is important to your business, so is the garbage can liner. It may be tempting to cut corners in this area and go with a skimpier liner, but remember you get the quality you pay for. So, if you have time for pick up spilled trash all afternoon, by all means purchase a thin liner that may or may not break. If you rather not spend a lot of time thinking about trash and wondering if today will be the day the bag breaks wide open, then go with a higher-quality liner.
