How Many Trash Cans Do I Need?

When opening a business, you need to address roughly a thousand obvious questions before you can hope to turn a profit. The appropriate number of trash cans is unlikely to be near the top of the list, but you still need to answer it at some point, so your new business doesn't fill up with trash and drive your customers and employees out the door. The total number of trash cans you'll need depends on many factors, including the can's size, the number of employees, customers, and other people you have in your establishment, and the type of refuse your business produces. For example, a law office produces far more paper waste than a restaurant, which will need more room for food waste.

You'll also need to decide how many different types of trash can you plan on offering. Recycling bins for paper, glass, and plastic can all be separate pieces to save you from sorting, while some establishments may need heavy-duty trash cans for dense, sharp, or reactive waste. The total number of trash cans you'll need will be determined by the nature and size of your business.

Choosing a Trash Can Size

Commercial trash cans are measured in volume, most often by total gallons of capacity. This can be tricky, as most people don't think of used napkins, empty water bottles, and recycled paper in terms of gallons, but there are a few determinants to find the right trash can size.

• First off, you can only use a trash can that you have room for – if your commercial space is cramped, you simply can't add a gigantic, 50-gallon trash bin.
• Second, how many people will be sharing this trash can? The more people, the larger the refuse bin needs to be.
• Finally, what size garbage is your business producing? If you just need a place for customers to toss their receipts, bags, and other debris, a small decorative trash can may be all you need.

If you've already got a business up and running, that gives you a great starting point to adjust your trash can needs. If you're looking for a new waste disposal setup because you empty your current cans too often, then you'll either want to upgrade the size or increase the number of trash cans available. On the other hand, operators opening a new business may be at a loss for how many trash cans per person will be needed.

How Many Trash Cans Per Person?

An easy calculation would be great, but the amount of trash produced by different businesses varies so wildly that any calculation would likely be misleading. There are two factors determining how many trash cans per person you need: volume of trash produced and location of the can. Office buildings typically want to have one small trash can for each person, because that person usually sits in one place and doesn't stop working to throw away a gum wrapper, for example. If your business has people constantly moving about, a few large trash cans at focal points in the building can be more efficient.

For restaurants and other customer-facing businesses, convenience is more important than volume. As long as you keep your trash cans from overflowing, adding a few attractive trash cans can keep your front-facing areas neat and tidy.

How Many Garbage Cans Do I Need?

Hopefully, the information above has helped you put the decision in context. To choose the right number of garbage cans, you need to determine:

1. How much trash does your average guest or worker produce?
2. What size trash bin will your space accommodate?
3. How many people does each trash can serve?
4. How often can you commit to emptying the trash cans?

Once you have a handle on these variables, head over to our commercial trash cans category to find the right trash cans at a good price.