Whenever you request or order a new garbage can, you need to determine the size based on the people in your household. Each person generates a certain amount of garbage per week, which is measured in liters. In this way, you can determine what volume your household needs.
Organic waste bin
The organic waste bin is one of the most important and should never be requested too small. If the bin is too small, the organic waste can no longer be disposed of and you have to store the organic waste in another way for at least two weeks. This is not ideal and should be avoided at all costs. To avoid this problem, the right size is important.
You can determine the required organic waste bin by multiplying the liters per person by the number of people in the household. In a classic 4-person household, it would look like this:
- Organic waste per person (per week): 15 l
- 4 people in the household
- Approximately 60 liters of organic waste occur per week
Since in most municipalities organic waste is emptied like residual waste every two weeks, this value has to be doubled. This means that a 120 liter barrel is required. In this way, the amount can easily be determined.
Residual waste bin
There is also a lot of residual waste in the household. Instead of 15 liters per person, depending on the municipality, even 20 liters per person per week are made possible. This means that in a 4-person household, between 120 and 160 liters of residual waste are generated every two weeks. So pay attention to which barrel sizes you have available and should order.
Recyclable material and paper garbage can
Things are a little different with recyclable materials such as plastic and waste paper. These bins are only emptied every 4 weeks and in Germany only available in sizes 120 and 240 liters. The number per liter is not really specified for these, but it can be assumed that it is also 15 to 20 liters.
If you have a larger household, you should definitely fall back on the 240 liter variants. This way you prevent possible bottlenecks within the four weeks in which no garbage is picked up.
