THE SOLUTION FOR CLEANER STREETS IN LIVERPOOL
Liverpool’s litter has gotten out of hand; it’s time for a change!
Here in Group 4 of PLACED Environmental Academy we are working on a solution to the litter problem through a wave of brand new, exciting and interactive litter bins which will be located in areas of the city which most desperately need them.
Not only will these custom litter bins combat littering, but their fun and gamified designs provide a fun twist to helping out the environment.
Our Designs
Here are just some examples of what these new types of bins might look like:

Community Involvement
We are calling on the community to get creative and send us in your very own, custom designs for possible litter bins to be included in our anti-litter roll-out.
The design requirements are as follows:
– Litter and recycling compartments
– Easily accessible and maintainable
– Unique, fun and interactive feature(s)
You can send these ideas through to PLACED via their Social Media channels!
Survey
Additionally, it would really help us if you were to fill out our survey so we could get an idea of where our bins would be best located. The survey can be found HERE.
What else do you think about our idea? We’d love to know!
Love the idea to motivate the public to use bins by turning it into a game. Reminds me a little of those posters of politicians they used to put up to motiviate people to put their chewing gum on their faces rather than on the floor.
I love the idea of making some models, even a range of prototypes.
The one thing I think could be considered further is cleaning. Litter and rubbish is dirty, and bins get really dirty really quickly. How could you change your designs to make them easy to clean or easy to disassemble? Especially the translucent bits!
I really like this idea – some of those bins could become so famous that people would travel to see them haha! I like that you thought about making them easily accessible and maintainable, as I think it should be easy to collect the rubbish – maybe by standardising the latch for disposal, so it is adapted to the waste collection trucks?
What a creative solution. I think applying the idea of gamification to the problem of littering could be really interesting. Littering is something we all notice and there have been many campaigns over the years to attempt to tackle the issue. Your fresh ideas could well help to encourage more people to make sure their litter ends up in the bin.
I think this is great! It’s exciting and fun and with the right message behind it to promote people to use a bin because so many people don’t!! Any idea to encourage people to throw their rubbish in the bin is perfect!
Should you have different bits for different types of recycling e.g. plastic, card, compost etc. could this be incorporated clearly into your designs and so it is obvious for people what goes where? What would you bins be made out of? Would it be recycled materials?
I imagine they would be very bright and eye-catching going by your visuals which are great. We need to try and recycle as much as possible and this is great initiative to get people thinking about how they dispose of waste.
Fun! I like the ideas and it’s a really good idea to do something imaginative rather than something boring like our normal bins – people just walk past our normal bins.
What’s the scale of your bin designs? How big / small are they? Depending on their capacity / size, how often would they need to be emptied?
Imaginative solution to an ongoing problem. It’s a really good idea to make people want to put their litter in a bin.
I really love this concept as it is so simple but so effective and could make all the difference in tackling the big issue of litter! Our bins are so boring and why do they need to be? Why not bring a bit of fun to the area for everyone?? I love the different designs that you’ve included here as some examples, they are unique, quirky, interactive, colourful and actually make me excited about throwing away rubbish and recycling. It’s great that you’ve encouraged others to get involved by designing their own bins too – it brings an element of fun competition, encourages people to use their imagination and be creative and playful. If your these designs became a reality, and if you had different neighbourhood competitions for bins in their area with the winners having their bins made and installed, it would bring a real sense of community, identity and shared ownership and responsibility which hopefully in turn would encourage more and more people to use them! How could they not?
Where / what areas do you think are in most need for more bins or bins that are more fun? Do you have anywhere in particular in mind? As each bin design is unique, would you have a clear way to distinguish which are for recyclable waste and which are for general waste etc e.g. a coding or labelling system?
I think this idea is a brilliant and practical solution that actively seeks to minimise negative impact on our environment. It encourages people to recycle and actively contribute to creating cleaner, safer neighbourhoods, reducing litter and maintaining public spaces that are pleasant for all.
Great work, well done!!
A great idea which could get a lot of press attention if you could make working models of some of your own starter designs and take them where people could see them working. Placed can advise on good squares markets and gathering places they’ve set up in. A surprising amount of community creativity comes from people building on each other’s ideas. But they like to see and even play with the ideas as working models when that’s possible, in my experience.
Litter is a big problem in Liverpool so I’m glad to see people looking to tackle it.
The bin ideas are nice.
Survey done!