The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and Van Alen Institute, in collaboration with the Industrial Designers Society of America and the American Institute of Architects New York, announced the launch of BetterBin, a design competition to reimagine the iconic New York City litter basket.

New York City is home to more than 23,000 litter baskets that offer pedestrians a convenient way to dispose of refuse and recycling on the go. The most widespread design—the green, wire-mesh basket—is affordable, easy to service and has remained largely unchanged since the 1930s. While iconic to the streets of New York, the wire basket is in need of a redesign to better address the current and future waste needs of the city. The BetterBin competition seeks entries to design a new litter basket that can improve the quality of life for New Yorkers and the sanitation workers who service them while keeping New York City healthy, safe and clean.

Multidisciplinary teams of designers, artists, architects, engineers, landscape architects, planners, urban designers, manufacturers and others are encouraged to submit proposals by September 20. Each of three design finalists will receive funding to produce prototype baskets for testing on city streets.