Rubbish bins aren’t something that the average person spends too much time thinking about. But here at Civic, bins and how to make them better are always on our minds. In fact, we’ve been busy designing a bin house that will solve all sorts of problems when it comes to litter management.

The Goblin is designed to sit over wheelie bins in parks, reserves and streets. Inside it has room for a 120L or 240L standard wheelie bin, rather than the smaller bins typically used for civic spaces. Bigger bins means receptacles that can be emptied less often. If bins are emptied less often, that’s better for the environment because it means that there are less vehicles driven on the road, which means less carbon emissions and less traffic congestion. 

There are more environmental upsides to the Goblin. It supports smart technology such as bait stations, pest-deterrent emitters and IoT sensors that measure the level of the rubbish and send alerts when the bin is full. Recycling materials — something we are always thinking about — was important, so we partnered with Globex to make the bins from recycled HDPE plastic and aluminium. These reusable materials make the Goblin (significantly) cheaper to manufacture and repair than its stainless steel counterparts too.

The lid is fully enclosed, preventing birds and the wind getting into the bin contents. And, the bin is ergonomically better for the people who service them. Rather than workers having to pull a full rubbish bag out of each bin, one of our custom-designed vehicles fitted with a bin lifter, will empty the bin mechanically. That, hopefully, will help to improve the rates of workers sustaining muscular-skeletal injuries (eg back strains) while on the job.

We are currently manufacturing and trialing the Goblin for clients, so get in touch with us if you’re interested in hearing more about them.