Making trash bins

[Nick Keenan]

I want to make some under-counter trash bins for the kitchen. The counter I want them to go under is 25-1/4" wide and 20" deep. I have to separate paper from bottles and cans, so I need three bins -- trash, paper, bottles & cans. My idea is to have a triple bin that slides out on drawer slides from under the counter.

Here's the catch: each bin can be at most about 18" x 8" to fit in this space. Normally for a kitchen trash bin I'd just use a Rubbermaid type wastebasket, but I haven't been able to find anything close to being narrow enough. So now I'm thinking I might just make something instead. My first impulse is just to make a three-compartment box out of 1/2" birch plywood. But where I'm getting hung up is how to make some sort of lip for the trash bags to hang from.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[LCHIEN]

How about this.
Each bin has four or more (as many as 8) "spikes" arrayed around the perimeter - at least the four corners and maybe one at the middle of ear side if necessary. Spike can be nails with the heads cut off, or pieces of 1/16" stiff wire (I would use pieces of coat hanger wire) sharpened and inserted/glued into tight fitting holes with the point up about 1/2". Or even the heads of finish nails left 1/2" proud. Anything that you can pole through the plastic trash bags.

Make a rectangular frame the size of the bin, wide enough to have a 1/2" dia recesses at each of the spike locations. And with a large center opening to allow disposal of trash/recycle items.

In use, line the bin with a plastic trash bag of appropriate size, hang the bag holding it open by puncturing over the four or more pins. Then put the frame over the top of the bin covering the spikes for safety. I can picture some dowels and loose beveled holes 3/4" long to engage before the spikes enter their recesses to help align the frame. And maybe a rubber band fastened to the frame and drawn over screws on the bin to help hold it in place. The bags will be trapped and can't come off the spikes once the top is captured lightly. And the spikes are all covered and encased to prevent injury to people using it while holding the bag wide open for easy item disposal.

To empty, remove the two rubber band retainers, remove the frame and set aside, then remove, tie, and discard the bag..
Replace the bag on the spikes, replace the frame and secure.

[Condoman44]

Many years ago I made a box 21D X 15W X 11H to take 2 baskets from Walmart. They sit on Blum undermount slides on a face frame with a drawer face covering it that is as high as the baskets plus 2" This has worked well for a number of years.

[Nick Keenan]

Loring -- thanks for your answer. It got me thinking and in a roundabout way it helped me realize something I think is important. The way that bags fit on the cans is that the circumference of the can -- whatever its shape -- is very close to the circumference of the bag. Ideally the can has a lip which is slightly larger than the bag, and the can itself is slightly smaller, so the bag stretches over the lip. So what I need to do is play around with the dimensions and get the circumference right.

I have a regular plastic Rubbermaid kitchen trash can and its circumference is 46-1/2" at the rim and 42-1/4" below it. The bag itself is about 46-1/2".

I now realize why all the trash cans I looked at on Amazon have very little variation in size, they have to fit the bags.

[LCHIEN]

I was working on the premise that you wanted to maximizse the size of the bins, as close to the 8x18 as you could. This maximizes the valume content as well as keeps stuff from falling between them.

18 x 8 has a perimeter of 52 inches. if you say the perimeter has to fix bags of 46-47 inch perimeter/circumference, then you can only have a bin of approx 17 x 6 or 16 x 7 to fit those bags.

I don't know what the next larger bag is or even if they come in standard sizes.