Review : Recycling Bins from Joseph Joseph

I have a confession to make, I really quite like recycling! How sad is that? Ever since the local council introduced a recycling scheme in our area I have become really quite committed to the cause. Occasionally, I attempt to ignore the rules, like putting an empty toilet roll into the bathroom bin, which is full of non-recyclable waste. It works for about three minutes before I’m consumed with guilt and have to fish it out and relocate it to the cardboard and paper bin. And I’m forever finding recyclable stuff in our kitchen bin that my husband couldn’t be bothered to put in the right bin. So totally and utterly annoying because I can’t just leave it there, I have to put it into the correct bin because I’m anal like that.

The only problem with the recycling system is that it takes up quite a fair bit of space for all the separate recycling bins required to follow the rules. Here in the South Hams, we have a large grey bin for non-recyclable waste, a large brown bin for food and garden waste, a blue plastic sack for card and paper and a clear plastic sack for plastic and tin cans. And we have to take glass to a local bottle bank.

We keep our two bins in the garden and the two sacks in our porch area outside the front door until they are full and then we take them to the garden too. So every time we have a bit of paper or cardboard to dispose of we have to take it outside to throw it away. So I can kind of understand why my husband doesn’t stick rigidly to the rules all of the time as it’s a bit of a pain to take rubbish outside each time even if it is only a few metres away.

We often end up with a little pile by the front door waiting to be sorted into the correct bags outside. Not really ideal. In fact, quite infuriating. But there is no way we could fit three separate recycling bins in our already overcrowded little kitchen…or is there?

Enter Stack by Joseph Joseph. Stack is an ingenious recycling separation system that allows you to neatly store away all your different types of recycling in different compartments, while decluttering your kitchen space.

The versatile design means you can combine all your various recycling boxes and bags into one space-saving unit. Depending on the space you have available the units can be stacked on top of one another or placed side by side. If you have surplus cupboard space you could even store them neatly side-by-side in the cupboard out of the way. However, they look so well designed that it really is no hardship to have them out on display.

The design is really quite clever as each unit has an easily accessible sliding lid that makes it extremely easy to deposit any waste, even when the units are stacked. The lids come with colour-coded tabs so it is easy to identify what kind of recycling should go where. And within each unit is a removable inner bucket which makes it easy to empty the recycling bins.

Stack is available as individual units (24 litres) or as a 2-piece (48 litres) or 3-piece set (52 litres) which includes a food waste caddy with a replaceable odour filter. The ventilated design allows air to enter and circulate inside the caddy, which helps to reduce moisture, which is the main cause of unpleasant odours from decomposing food.

We were sent the 3-piece Stack recycling unit by Joseph Joseph a couple of months ago to test out and we’ve been using it ever since. I was really surprised by how little room it actually takes up. We stack the two main units next to our regular bin for non-recyclable waste and we have the food caddy on the worktop.

Ideally, I would have the caddy stacked on top but as the bins are in front of a radiator I don’t think this is wise. I didn’t really think that the bins would make that much difference to our recycling routine but I have to say that they really have.

Instead of storing up our recycling in little piles it is so easy to dispose of it neatly into the correct bin. We used to have to take our waste outside every day, but with our new slimline recycling bins, we only need to empty them every 2-3 weeks. it’s really remarkable.

And the food caddy can hold a surprising amount and as yet I have to say we have had no bad odours emanating from the bin, which is impressive. I’m also happy to report that I no longer find recyclable rubbish in the wrong bin anymore as my husband has absolutely no excuse now.

Having said that though I do keep finding regular rubbish in our paper bin as Matylda likes the sliding lids so much she now prefers to put all rubbish in the new bins. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

But overall I am extremely impressed with the Stack recycling unit and highly recommend it for anyone who needs to consolidate their home recycling system. Admittedly, it’s not cheap at £100 for the 52-litre (3 bins) system but I think it is definitely worth the money to be able to carry out your recycling duties in such an organised and compact manner.

What do you guys think? How do you organise your recycling? Do you think the Joseph Joseph Stack system could work for you?

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Disclosure: This is a collaborative post. Joseph Joseph kindly supplied the products for the purpose of this review on the understanding that if we did not like them we would return them and wouldn’t feature them on the blog. All the opinions in this review are our own and we stress that we only collaborate with brands and companies that we genuinely like and believe that our readers will like too.