(I'm going to try this idea later)

Where I live, we have a fairly relaxed recycling regime. All recyclable rubbish - glass, plastic, paper and cardboard can be put in the same bag and is collected once a week by the big orange recycling truck. We have a big cardboard box in the corner of the kitchen for recyclable stuff.

However, this doesn't work so well for other rooms in the house - e.g. in the bathroom, there's just one little cylindrical rubbish bin and it tends to get filled with recyclable and non-recyclable rubbish which means that none of it gets recycled.

So, this idea is to cut a bit of cardboard and fit it in the bin to divide it in two - it would have to be a trapezoidal shape (actually, an isosceles trapezium if we're being accurate) to fit this particular bin, hence the idea title. Then, half the bin can be used for recyclable rubbish and half for non-recyclable rubbish and there's no no need to clutter up the bathroom with an extra bin. If you need to sort your rubbish into different types of recyclable rubbish, use more cardboard to create more 'segments' in the same bin.
-- hippo, Jan 26 2007

A bin with pegs on the top would permit inserting several open plastic bags in the same bin to separate the different types of garbage.
-- JSand, Jan 26 2007


Ah, I think I can solve your problem: how about a bin which has an open end at the top and bottom? Then you could put one type of refuse in one end, and if you have another type, then you could turn the bin upside down and put it in the other end.
-- Ling, Jan 26 2007


That would provide an elegantly engineered solution, immediately doubling both capacity and segmentation while maintaining structural stability going forward and impacting minimally on capex.
-- wagster, Jan 26 2007


I saw in a local shop recently a bin then when you open it it has not one but two, semi-curcular removable plastic buckets so you can use one half for recycling and one for normal waste.
-- webfishrune, Jan 26 2007


Is "most" rubbish non-recyclable?   If so, the bin divider should be switchable; its divider can be folded one way or another to cover the lesser used half. +
-- reensure, Jan 26 2007


[21] I have had that "popcorn" and I fail to see the distinction.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Jan 26 2007



random, halfbakery