Colin Kelly is one part of the NYC-based design firm Group Project, who won the competition for the new Better Bin, to replace the ubiquitous green wire mesh litter bins around New York City. We speak about the state of waste collection in NYC, the design ideas and the prototype process behind Better Bin, and what happens when a group of friends suddenly need to become a real company when they become finalists for a massive design competition.

• LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:

DSNY currently has 23,000 litter baskets citywide, including over 13,000 wire litter baskets. These baskets are easy for residents to misuse, accessible to rats, and often overflowing.

Local designers (Group Project) have designed our litter basket of the future: rat resistant, harder for the public to misuse, easier for Sanitation Workers to use, and with more volume. These Better Bins are now beginning mass production.

• Colin Kelly portfolio – Better Bin

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