Why recycling over Christmas is worth it!

Recycling News – admin

The Best Kitchen Bins and Recyclers from the Best Brands

When it comes to kitchen design, you want to make sure you get every detail perfect. The kitchen is often the most versatile room in the home, as it needs to balance aesthetic beauty with everyday function to become the perfect living space. While it might not be high on your list, your kitchen bin is hugely important in creating the ideal kitchen. You want to find the perfect solution for your kitchen, one that looks good but also offers enough waste space not to need changing too regularly and is easy to reach when cooking or cleaning. What is the Best Kitchen Bin? Of course, the best bin for your kitchen depends on many factors, particularly the size of the kitchen and the household. You don’t want a bin that takes up too much space, but you also want one big enough so that you don’t need to be emptying it more often than you’d like. Here at Binopolis, we stock a wide selection of high-quality bins. Our kitchen range can be split into two broad categories: Free-standing bins - pedal or touch bins out in the kitchen alongside cabinets or appliances. In-cupboard bins - those that are integrated into cupboards or cabinets. If you’re unsure which style of bin might be right for you, be sure to check out our buying guides and our blog. In this article, we take a look at some of our most popular brands and models to give you some inspiration for choosing your perfect kitchen bin! Wesco Kitchen Bins Wesco is one of the most recognisable brands on the market. With a history dating back to 1867, Wesco is known for its stylish retro designs, but also has a great contemporary range and is renowned for its high quality. Wesco In Cupboard Bins Wesco has a fantastic range of modern, functional in-cupboard bins. In fact, it is one of the most extensive ranges anywhere on our site! There are so many to choose from, you’re sure to find something perfect for your space. Particular models to look out for in this range are the Wesco Pullboy-Z and the Bio. The Pullboy-Z range is an excellent option for maximising recycling space in cabinets with pull-out doors while the Bio is a popular range of bins for hinged door cabinets, offering both single and multiple compartments in a sleek design. Wesco Pedal Bins If you want to add a bit of style to your kitchen, Wesco’s freestanding bins are a fantastic choice. We stock a great selection of Wesco bins with a huge range of styles and sizes available. For a retro look, the Wesco Pushboy offers a high-quality design awash with style. However, if you want to maximise your space, the One Boy comes in a rectangular design that sits nicely at the end of your work surface or cabinets. Note that all the Wesco freestanding bins on offer are single compartments. You may wish to pair this with a smaller in-cupboard or under-sink bin for your recycling. Wesco Under Sink Bins Wesco also offers a great selection of lower height in-cupboard bins. These shallow bins are perfect for maximising sometimes wasted space underneath sinks, allowing extra space for waste or recycling. Brabantia Kitchen Bins Probably the most recognisable bin brand in the UK, Brabantia is a great choice for anyone who wants a stylish finish for their kitchen. Not only do they offer a huge selection of contemporary, on-trend designs, but all their products are also incredibly well-made, making your life much easier. Brabantia Touch and Pedal Bins Brabantia is most known for its freestanding kitchen bins, and we offer a great selection here at Binopolis. Our most popular Brabantia bin is the Bo range, a stylish design that’s versatile enough to suit any kitchen. Concealing generous bin capacity in a minimal exterior, the Bo range offers bins with one or two compartments, allowing you to easily manage your waste and recycling, and a choice of touch or pedal opening to suit your preference There’s also a Bo Hi Touch version with legs underneath, which gives a unique look and can be especially useful for giving higher access while cooking or cleaning. Alongside the Bo Touch, Brabantia also offers a great selection of classic steel bins with both push and touch options available. Joseph Joseph Kitchen Bins Another hugely respected name in homeware, Joseph Joseph are renowned for their simple but sleek designs, creating that perfect harmony between functionality and style. Joseph Joseph Totem Bins Here at Binopolis, we stock one of Joseph Joseph’s most popular models, the Totem. This handy freestanding bin comes with three compartments, allowing you to manage your waste and recycling in one neat and stylish bin. The Joseph Joseph Totem is available in both 40-litre and 60-litre capacities and also comes in a range of neutral colours to fit your kitchen space. Hailo Kitchen Bins Another hugely popular brand with homeowners and kitchen professionals, Hailo products are renowned for their excellent functionality and reliability. When purchasing a Hailo kitchen bin, you can be confident that you’re getting a solidly made and well-designed product that will last through years of use in the kitchen. Hailo Pull Out Bins Hailo offers a great selection of quality in-cupboard bins for both pull-out and hinged doors. One of our most popular models for cabinets with hinged doors is the Easy Cargo for 500mm cupboards, a self-contained unit with generous capacity and a heavy-duty, easy to use pull system: simply open the cupboard door and pull out the bins using the front panel. The Hailo Euro Cargo range, with options for both small and large cabinets, offers some of the largest capacity bins for cabinets with pull-out doors. One reason for the large capacities is the 530mm fitting depth of the Euro Cargo range, but if you have this depth then a model such as the Euro Cargo 90L 600mm unit with four compartments is a great option for separating out recycling, food waste and rubbish. Hailo Under Sink Waste Bins As part of their in-cupboard bin range, Hailo also provides a selection of lower height bins that can work well in sink cupboards. The Hailo Tandem is the perfect way to make use of that awkward space, keeping your waste hidden and organised. Please check the cabinet space you have below and around pipework and check out the dimensions of each bin in our specification on the product page. Vauth Sagel Kitchen Bins Another brand that’s renowned for its functionality, German company Vauth Sagel offer a great selection of high-quality bins that are perfect for your in-cupboard spaces. Vauth Sagel Pull Out Bins Here at Binopolis, we offer a fantastic range of in-cupboard bins from Vauth-Sagel for spaces both big and small. The Vauth-Sagel Es-Pro range is the perfect way to make the most of your cabinets. There are options with various capacities and compartments, and each comes with high-quality soft close runners for a great user experience. Vauth-Sagel also offers the Envi Centre, a three-compartment bin that sits directly on the inside of a hinged door. This sleek corner design is a great way to make use of your cabinet space while also leaving room for other items. Need Advice? If you’re unsure what bin is suitable for your kitchen, why not take a look at our fantastic range? Our product pages allow you to filter by specifics such as cabinet size, capacity, number of compartments and more. Our blog is full of helpful guides to help you find the right bin, including where you should put your kitchen bin. You can also get in touch with us directly - our passionate team is always happy to answer any questions you might have.

Recycling News – admin

Festive recycling counts - using a recycling bin makes it easier!

The cards used over Christmas would cover the London Eye almost 50,000 times, and recycling 6 foil mince pie cases saves enough energy to watch the Christmas episode of Downton Abbey. At Christmas, when we all have extra bottles, packaging and paper to put in the bins, it really is worth recycling as much as possible instead of throwing it away as rubbish. Across the country you can now recycle material easily in your kerbside collections such as: * Greetings cards, wrapping paper (white backed, non-foil) and gift tags * Glass bottles and jars  * Plastic bottles, tubs and trays  * Foil trays including mince pie and quiche cases and takeaway trays * Cans, tins and aerosols including biscuit and sweet tins. Cardboard boxes, food waste and even Christmas trees are increasingly recycled from kerbsides in many areas. Even if you don't have your cardboard collected from home, it's worth taking it to a recycling centre at the supermarket. The quantities of recyclable materials used over the festive season are increasing and the quantities are staggering: * The packaging paper we use in the UK each year at Christmas is the equivalent to the weight of 124 London Eyes.  * 300,000 tonnes of card is used in UK households during the festive season - enough to wrap Big Ben almost 260,000 times. * An estimated 500 tonnes of Christmas tree lights are thrown away in the UK over the Christmas period. If they are in good working order, you could donate them to charity, but if broken many councils will recycle the materials * Around 250 tonnes of real Christmas trees are thrown out after Christmas but many local authorities offer free collections for composting and using the needles as mulch in parks and woodland. Next year it's predicted that more people will buy a living tree that can be kept in a pot, brought in each year and finally planted in the garden when it's outgrown the house! * If we laid all the card packaging side by side, it would cover the return distance between London and Lapland over 100 times. It helps to visualise the sheer volume of card used in the UK over Christmas, by wrapping some sizeable landmarks:   The card used over Christmas would cover the London Eye almost 50,000 times. The card used over Christmas would cover the Eden Project biomes over 11,000 times We could wrap Big Ben up 260,000 times using 300,000 tonnes of card, which could easily be recycled and turned back into new boxes and packging in 2016. So it's a great time to start recycling, or do more of it, over Christmas and into the New Year. We wish you a very Happy Christmas and send our best wishes for 2016, from everyone at Binopolis! With thanks to the excellent http://www.recyclenow.com website.

Recycling News – admin

On World Environment Day...read how our kitchen recycling bins can help

Start recycling and buy quality products to reduce waste: small acts with global impact. What can we do as individuals to make a contribution to taking care of our environment? 'Buy it nice or buy it twice' is one key message from the UN on World Environment Day. Buying less but choosing well means you can avoid the throwaway culture caused by cheaply built products. Products are also discarded after a short life when they have built-in planned obsolescence: designed to have a limited life or always destined to be replaced by a new version which renders them obsolete. Our products have a long product lifespan which is the opposite of planned obsolescence: they are designed and built to last and in particular Simplehuman, Brabantia, and Wesco confidently cover their bins with 10 year guarantees, with spare parts available if any component needs replacing in order to extend the life of the product. So buying any Simplehuman, Brabantia or Wesco Recycling bin gives double earth-friendly benefits: firstly to make it easy to sort your recycling in the kitchen and to help you collect recyclable paper and card, plastic, cans and glass, and secondly by investing a little more in a quality product it will give you years of use and not end a short life as landfill. Wesco has a long tradition of making top quality steel products, and they combine this quality with distinctive 'Vintage' styling whcih makes Wesco bins instantly recognisable. The Wesco Big Double Boy recycling bin is a supremely solid product, weighty and strong in best quality steel. It also looks fantastic with its gently curved stainless steel lid contrasting against the glossy powder coated colour finishes: clean White, subtle Almond, rich Red and chic Black. The pedal detailing and Wesco badge bring authentic Wesco styling to the bin but the design works well in contemporary kitchens as well as in vintage interiors. It will look great and function perfectly for many years, the soft-close lid won't clang and the two compartment inner buckets are durable and easy to use with hand-grips for easy removal and liner-securing features. The Wesco Big Double Boy Recycling bin is on special offer this week and is available from stock for free delivery, next day if ordered Monday to Thursday. You may find a lower price but watch out for long delivery times and non-returnable terms. See the product here, order with confidence from Binopolis and start recycling in style.

Recycling News – admin

Maximum recycling, minimum space - checkout our recycling sets for larger families and offices

Combining matching bins is a really stylish way to deal with larger amounts of recycling for larger families or in offices. Our bins are all beautiful and functional, and we've chosen designs that line up together and look great in your kitchen or office interior.  If you have a busy family, our recycling sets will work for you and the children. Kids really believe in recycling and get used to it at school, so why not get them helping at home? Gemma, who reviwed our Simplehuman Touch Bar Recycling Set told us "my 3 daughters learn about recycling at school and insisted we did it when we got one new wheelie bin for paper, plastic and tins and one for rubbish. I knew one bin wouldn't be big enough but these two bins actually fit in my space 60cm wide where the old bin was. The girls love the lids- the Touch is so easy for them to use- so the recycling gets done by willing helpers! Thanks for the idea and the delivery was next day which was impressive."  Another set that's popular with families is the Simplehuman Butterfly Recycling set, shown in our first picture, which gives you four inner buckets of 20 litres each so you can easily sort your recycling and waste into 4 copious sections. The lids on these bins are also very child-friendly: they open and close slowly and softly so they have time to put the recycling in without getting trapped fingers. The Butterfly is fantastically space-efficient in two ways. First, its narrow, slim shape means it will fit into tight spaces including between cupboards, and two bins aligned together take up just 55 cm width. The second space saving design feature is the amazing lid, which opens from the centre giving you a total height of only 77.5 cm: low enough to fit under a worktop. Simplehuman Steel bins are, we admit, not cheap but you really do get what you pay for: solid construction and pedal mechanism, a truly fingerprint-proof finish, soft close lids (no more clanging!) and a 10 year guarantee. They're worth the investment if you consider the cost spreading over many years of efficient use and long-lasting good looks. Don't just take our word for it: see this great customer review for the Butterfly Recycler on our Feefo pages "Fabulous product, it's quite expensive but looks fab and is very well made."  Simplehuman Slim Plastic bins create a great value Recycling Set still with fantastic quality, and blissfully quiet lids. Our sets combine White, Grey or Black bins with a copious 40 litre capacity but again with a narrow footprint to really make the most of your space at home or in the office. We've put together sets of Two and Three bins combining different colours as you may want to colour code your recycling and waste- another great idea for children. If you'd prefer to unify the look of your set, just give us a call and we'll put together a set in one colour for you. When you use one of our sets, you're really creating your own recycling station. Two or three bins work really well in larger households, but if you have slightly less recycling one of our 2 or 3 compartment recyclers still does the same efficient job of helping you to sort your recycling in the kitchen: just take a look at our Recyclers section. As ever at Binopolis we're just a call or email away, so if you're thinking about a set but want some ideas on where to fit one into your space, or to work out the best product for your needs, we'd be happy to help. Contact us on 023 8097 0230 or customerservice@binopolis.com: there are real people on the other end!

Recycling News – admin

Recycling your plastic gets glamorous!

It really is worth recycling your plastic! Clear water bottles are becoming a valuable resource in the recycling industry, because they can be crushed, melted and spun into white yarn, ready to be dyed and woven into fabric. Vivienne Westwood, British designer and Ecological campaigner, has designed the new Virgin Atlantic uniforms announced today and a key part of the design concept was to incorporate recycled materials and eco-friendly manufacturing. Read on... The red polyster fabric she has used is made from plastic bottles and looks great, as demonstrated here by Debbie Harry of Blondie performing at the launch party. So you can reduce landfill which never disintegrates, and contribute to the economy, just by putting your plastic in the recycling compartment of your Binopolis bin!  If we could choose a recycling bin for Virgin it would have to be the Wesco Big Double Boy in rich shiny red: a truly upper class product!

Recycling News – admin

Happy World Earth Day: recycle and reduce food waste

World Earth Day started in 1970 and is organised by the Earth Day Network.For 2014 there's a big emphasis on reducing or re-using food waste. In the UK, we waste 30 percent of the food we buy. For perspective, that’s like buying 10 shopping bags worth of groceries and throwing three bags directly in the 'garbage'.The solution is a worktop bin next to where you chop your food, make the tea and coffee and clear the plates. Then it's easy just to put the choppings, tea bags, coffee grounds and food scraps straight in. If you've been given a brown plastic kitchen 'caddy' by your council, this may be deterring you from puting it on your worktop, but we have the answer: the fantastic Joseph Joseph Stack Food Caddy which comes in stone or graphite. It's hard to show the sheer quality and brilliant features of this bin in just a photo, but I have one at home so I can tell you that it's beautifully finished with great s stainless steel handle. It takes our Joseph Joseph IW2 compaostable liners standard supermarket compostible liners which you hold in place with an inner ring, so nothing shows on the outside. Even with my family, I can get a couple of days worth of scraps into the liner which you then tie up and put outside in your kerbside food waste bin. If you make your own garden compost, you can just carry the bin outside. It's then really easy to clean the inside of the bin before putting in your new liner. Jospeh Joseph have also developed a ventilation system in the lid, plus a charcoal filter, both to control odours and I can report that these really work. So add to your recycling scheme with a worktop bin. 

Recycling News – admin

UK achieves the highest recycling growth rate in Europe

Back in 2001, just 12% of the UK's waste was being recycled. But we are improving fast: a report by the European Environment Agency shows recycling in the UK has gone up by 26.5%, the highest percentage rise in Europe. We now recycle 39% of our waste, and we need to keep improving our recycling at this rate to catch up with Germany, Austria and Belgium, which already recycle more than 50% of their waste. Outside the EU, even the USA recycles 49% of its waste representing achievement on a massive scale. Much of our improved performance is credited to Local Authorities introducing recycling schemes which encourage people to sort their rubbish from recyclables. Different authorities may have 2-way, 3-way or even 4-way recycling for glass, certain plastics, paper and food scraps. 60-70% of your waste should be recyclable.  So if your Local Authority has introduced a recycling scheme, sorting your waste is definitely worth doing and you don’t have to ruin the look of your kitchen with teetering piles of packaging, or keep going outside to your wheelie bins. Create your own recycling system using one of our compartment bins, or a combination of bins if you need to recycle more.  (click here to view our range of recycling bins)  The bins fit a lot of recycling into one neat-looking space and it soon becomes part of your routine. You could even say that recycling is now a style statement, with the release of this beautiful print by pop artist Peter Blake. Available from the Tate Gallery shop, it’s printed on tin and we want one on our kitchen wall above our two recycling bins.