Sensor Kitchen Bin 72L, Brushed Steel, Recycling Drawer

The 72-litre sensor bin is made for the busiest corner of a kitchen, where hands are usually full, wet or covered in something. An induction window at the front of the lid picks up a hand held above it and raises the lid on its own; a few seconds after you move away the lid closes softly instead of dropping shut. While the sensor sees a hand or an object in front of it the lid simply stays up, which is what you want when plates are being scraped one after another.

Two waste streams live in one upright column. The top compartment takes the everyday rubbish in a removable inner liner that lifts straight out when the bag is changed. Below it, a drawer runs forward on wheels and a full-width grip to reveal two lift-out sorting buckets, one green and one grey, each with a moulded finger hole. Bottles, cans and card go in the drawer, food waste stays above, and there is no need for a second bin standing alongside the first.

The body is brushed steel with a black lid, black plinth and black drawer front, an upright shape with rounded corners that stands against a wall or at the end of a run of units. Power comes from six AA batteries loaded under the lid and switched on at the back of the unit, so there is no cable to route and no socket needed nearby. Because the sensor electronics sit inside the lid, the manufacturer asks that the bin is wiped down rather than washed out, and that the sensor window is kept out of strong direct sunlight so it reads a hand reliably.

It suits a household that separates its recycling but has run out of places to put a second bin, and it works just as well in a utility room, an office kitchenette or a staff room where a pedal bin gets kicked about all day. The printed instructions recommend 50-litre liners for the main compartment, so refills come off an ordinary supermarket shelf rather than from a proprietary cassette. Open and close buttons sit next to the sensor for the times when you would rather work the lid by hand.