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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Matthew Cantor in San Francisco

Rubbish! San Francisco’s $20,000 designer trash can struggles to contain trash

A prototype of the Salt and Pepper trash can seen near the Embarcadero and Ferry Building in San Francisco.
A prototype of the Salt and Pepper trash can seen near the Embarcadero and Ferry Building in San Francisco. Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP

San Francisco may struggle with an intractable housing crisis, gaping income inequality and a deserted downtown – but one thing it will not tolerate is second-rate trash cans.

In 2018, the city’s department of public works began the process of replacing its more than 3,000 existing public trash cans. Not content with the models already on the market, San Francisco launched what is now a three-and-half-year (and counting), $550,000 project to design bespoke bins for its streets.

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