A wheelie bin is a type of waste container. In the U.S. it is technically known as a "mobile garbage bin" or MGB. A more sophisticated relation of the traditional, round bin, it is a rectangular box on wheels usually of injection molded high density polythene (HDPE) although the larger ones may be made of steel. It is designed to be emptied mechanically and is therefore constrained by various standards to ensure that it mates correctly with the unloading machinery. A waste container (known more commonly in British English as a dustbin and American English as a trash can) is a container, which can be made out of metal or plastic¹, used to store refuse. ... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... Injection molding can be used to make plastic artificial flowers such as these. ... Polyethylene or polyethene is one of the simplest and most inexpensive polymers. ...

A wheelie bin in Berkshire, England

George Dempster invented the Dempster-Dumpster system in the 1930s for automatically loading the contents of standardised mobile steel containers onto the dustcart. This led to the classic Dempster Dumpmaster dustcart of the 1950s, but wheelie bins did not become commonplace until the 1970s. The term dumpster is frequently used as a generic term for a large MGB in the United States. Download high resolution version (1036x1232, 413 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1036x1232, 413 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Berkshire (IPA: or  ; sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a county in England and forms part of the South East England region. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... George Roby Dempster (16 September 1887-18 September 1964) was an industrialist and inventor, and also served as mayor of Knoxville. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Dempster Dumpmaster, introduced in the 1950s was the first commercially successful front loading garbage truck. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... A dumpster awaiting pick-up A Dumpster® is a large trash receptacle, and a type of mobile garbage bin or MGB. In British and Australian English, the term skip is more commonly used (although they are not perfect synonyms). ...

The smaller wheelie bins, for domestic or light commercial use, typically hold 120, 240 or 360 litres, with 240 litres being the most common. They have a hinged flap lid and two wheels on the bottom on the same side as the lid hinge. There is a bar behind the hinge on the top of the bin which is used to move it. The 240 litre bin is usually considered to have the same capacity as three traditional dustbins. A driving wheel on a steam locomotive. ... A dustbin is a container used to store refuse, can be made out of metal or plastic¹. Indoor bins are traditionally kept in the kitchen² to dispose of culinary excess such as fruit peelings or food packets, although there are also wastepaper baskets (sometimes called circular files) which are used...

The dimensions of these bins vary with manufacturer and standard, but are roughly:

• 120 litres - 93 cm high, 48 cm wide, 52.5 cm deep
• 240 litres - 107 cm high, 58 cm wide, 74 cm deep
• 360 litres - 110 cm high, 62 cm wide, 86 cm deep

These bins are usually black or green, but other colours include brown, grey, blue and red. Frequently several different coloured bins are provided for different types of waste so that it may be recycled: for example garden waste, plastics and metal. Sometimes the term wheelie bin is taken to cover these smaller bins and not their four-wheeled cousins. Black is not a colour. ... Green is a color with many different shades, all within a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nm. ...

The design objectives behind the bin were efficient use of space and safety: to provide at least as much space as the older round bins, whilst reducing the risk of injury caused by moving it. This is important for both the householder and the dustmen, who risked injury through lifting the traditional bin or from sharp, and frequently contaminated objects in rubbish bags. The bins only need to be wheeled to the dustcart where they are emptied by machinery. A garbage truck, known as a dustcart or dustbin wagon in the United Kingdom, is a truck specially designed to haul waste to landfills and other recycling / disposal facilities. ...

The early standard for these bins was the German DIN Standard 30740 and DIN 30700 parts 1 + 2 and later RAL-RG 723/2, but in the European Union the specification of wheelie bins is now governed by the European Standard EN840, Part 1 of which covers the construction and dimensions of two wheeled bins with a range of capacities.

Many local authorities have made this type of bin compulsory, and usually require that bins are presented at the kerb for collection. A curb or kerb is the edge where a raised sidewalk, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway. ...

The larger bins, intended for commercial use, are mounted on four wheels and frequently have a sliding lid and are covered by Part 2 of EN 840. They have capacities of 500, 660, 770, 1000, 1100 or 1280 litres. Galvanised steel is sometimes used for their construction in place of polythene. Galvanization refers to any of several electrochemical processes named after the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani. ...

Some domestic bin-owners buy wheelie bin covers which come as four self-adhesive sheets with a floral or ivy design. These have to be cut to shape and stuck to the bin.

Materials subject to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive are marked with a "Wheelie Bin" label, consisting of an iconic representation of a wheelie bin crossed with a large X. WEEE Man The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) is the European Community directive 2002/96/EC on waste electrical and electronic equipment which, together with the RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC, became European Law in February 2003, setting collection, recycling and recovery targets for all types of...

External link

• BBC - h2g2 - Wheelie Bins