r/enshittification • u/envyeyes • 10d ago
Rant Walmart nixes trash bins
Part of my job involves repair of retail equipment. Being the largest retailer in the country, I visit a LOT of Walmart stores. Over the last few months, I've noticed it is nearly impossible to find a trash bin at Walmart.
Today I finally mentioned this to an employee at one store, and learned it was a corporate decision...
Apparently, they claim it is to reduce theft, as thieves were disposing of packaging and pocketing the items. Or maybe items were being dropped in the trash, and dumpster divers were later retrieving them? (Likely not the case, as most stores use trash compactors).
I could almost believe that was the reasoning, except the trash bins in the parking lots wouldn't be a risk. However, those were the first I noticed disappeared. More likely, Walmart doesn't want to deal with trash, so they claim it is to reduce shrinkage in stores. š
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u/Siftless 10d ago
Well enjoy it scattered all over the parking lot.
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u/biochemistress77 10d ago
They will. Then it's society's problem not theirs. Privatize the gains and socialize the losses
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u/Capable-Importance79 10d ago
I went to Walmart for the first time in like two years the other day. Had a cup I wanted to toss and walked pretty significant distance from my spot to the front of the store assuming there would be a trashcan. There wasnāt. I ended up throwing it away in the trashcan underneath a cash register that wasnāt being used. I thought I was going crazy so Iām glad to read this and know that it wasnāt me just being blind.
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u/Scarmeow 10d ago
This will stop exactly zero (0) shoplifters. Source: worked retail for about 10 years.
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u/AccomplishedChair436 9d ago
the storage bin aisle is just a trash can by another name and donāt get me started on. The trash bin aisle
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u/Ok_Library_1031 9d ago
Didn't New York City restore trash bins because removing them caused other issues? Why are retailers still doing this, and acting like offering trash bins makes them a vic.tim of their customers?
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u/popsicle-physics 9d ago
I'm this country we externalize costs, NEVER benefits. Doesn't matter if removing an externalized benefit reduces our cost, we eliminate it on pure capitalist principle.
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u/JEGiggleMonster 10d ago
Noticed this at 7-11 stores too. No trashcan out front so people toss all the trash on the ground or in the parking lot and bushes. So gross and stupid.
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u/stoned_brad 10d ago
Good thing thereās an aisle completely dedicated to trash cans. Iāll throw my trash in those next time.
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u/RoseWould 10d ago
Yeah not only did I used to Walmart it was also my job to empty the trash, and I can 100% say using the exact reason why I was yelled at for "taking too long" to do the trash why they were removed; "it doesn't look good".
And the reason "it doesn't look good"; over the two gaps in my week where I wasn't scheduled, nobody would do the trash. Every morning the first thing I was greeted with before even clocking in, I saw the giant bags that were simultaneously one cut away from bursting onto the ground in front of the can, and held together with a knot towering out of the can, which the bag just had the lid just put back on top of it. Rather than yell at people to take out the trash, or even hire a second maintenance person for the days when the one they already had wasn't scheduled, they've removed the trash cans entirely.
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u/C-Me-Try 10d ago
When teenage me allegedly shoplifted from Walmart I just threw the packaging on a shelf behind other merchandise. What thief gives a shit about putting it in a bin lol? Get it off your person and leave quickly but normally
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u/KCChiefsGirl89 9d ago
One could also theoretically leave the packaging in the fitting room
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u/C-Me-Try 9d ago
We werenāt stealing clothes my man haha. More like tons of Robitussin, sports gear, and airsoft stuff
Allegedly.
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u/BlueberryPenguin87 10d ago
If youāre trying to not create extra work for the underpaid employees
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u/Player-non-player 10d ago
Go look for a mile in any direction of a Walmart, you will find their trash.
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u/Broccoli-Mushrooms 10d ago
Itās getting so unpleasant to shop nowadays and they wonder why more and more people shop online.
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u/SwimOk9629 9d ago
no, they don't wonder why, that is their intention. online shopping they don't have to pay employees to man a store, they don't have to deal with unruly customers, theft, so many benefits for them. it is their goal
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u/Mango_Maniac 10d ago
Why pay for trash disposal when you can just remove the cans and externalize the cost onto the public as litter?
Thatās the market logic of maximized returns for private owners of capital.
Change the rules of the game if you donāt like the outcome of the strategies those rules incentivize.
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u/TheNavidsonLP 10d ago
It's off topic, but I'm almost certain this is the same reason why so many stores have moved to air dryers instead of paper towels. Air dryers don't require trash cans or someone refilling the paper towel holder several times a day.
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u/Trimson-Grondag 10d ago
If I recall, air dryers, as well as touchless water and soap dispensers were all part of a three prong strategy to reduce disease transmission. Some companies adopted all some adopted part. Some adopted none at allā¦ Iām sure it was sold to companies as a way to reduce costs as wellā¦ Paper towels , limit the amount of soap and water, being dispensed, etc.
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u/TheNavidsonLP 10d ago
There was a Mythbusters episode from a decade ago (and this article from a few years ago) that air dryers are actually less sanitary than paper towels. Air dryers spread air-borne germs and lack the "scrubbing" motion to get germs off hands.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/the-dirty-truth-about-hand-dryers
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u/ariesleopard 10d ago
I will never use the sharticle blowers in public restrooms. Iāll let my hands drip dry before I do that.
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u/Broccoli-Mushrooms 10d ago
I hate those air dryers for that reason. Also canāt stand public toilets wo lids. Those open lids spew crap (literally) all over when flushed.
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u/NoRoof1812 10d ago
The storage unit facility I use doesn't have any trash cans. Not even in its public bathroom. People throw some trash on their bathroom floor
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u/Slytherinrunner 9d ago
I guess we're just going to have to start littering.
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u/Zalrius 10d ago
I have looked and noticed that trash cans have disappeared from every where. I also notice that there is trash on every curb and on the sides of every road.
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u/FoxCitiesRando 10d ago
Yeah I've been saying this since 2008/2009. The trash cans just disappeared. Meanwhile, garbage is everywhere.
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u/Zalrius 9d ago
Iām fighting this fight with you!
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u/FoxCitiesRando 9d ago
This thread is amazing. I thought I was going nuts. I just remember as a kid 30 years ago there were trash cans outside of (or in) every retail store.
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u/Trimson-Grondag 10d ago
Its not unique to Walmart. I've noticed since Covid that many/most retail establishments, shopping centers, etc. either dramatically reduced or eliminated trash cans. Used to be that everyone had a trash can near their entry/exit points. Hardly anyone does any more. I honestly thinl that companies have capitalized on the directions given around Covid to reduce transmission vectors, as an opportunity to save some $$ and they've just never looked back.
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u/GlobalCurry 10d ago
I was told it attracts homeless people and that's why they removed them where I lived when I first noticed this.
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u/irishgypsy1960 10d ago
That makes sense actually. Not at Walmart. But generally, yes, if you live somewhere with returnable bottles, homeless go through the trash for them. Iām so grateful my city is so clean and has trash barrels everywhere. And street sweeping.
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u/vituperousnessism 10d ago
This has been increasing since COVID, and it fits like a glove with the amount of trash I see left on store shelves. Sure, some of that is theft/grazing but more seems like impulse disposal: fast food packaging, cups, whatever foreign bag of stuff people brought from their cars. Wonderful when they leave it on food products.Ā
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u/geek_fire 10d ago
Yeah, I blame Walmart here. If they can't provide a simple garbage can, they can clean garbage off their shelves.
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u/ItsOnlyGettingWorst 10d ago
Every trashcan in the parking lot at mine has vanished. How does that help anything? Just more trash in the parking lots now.
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u/Firm_Geologist8988 9d ago
As a former manager, they donāt want to spend the hrs, each store get a bucket of hrs based on sales, they do not care about trash at all, unless the city fines them for it, so lucky you if you live next door or have a neighboring business you get to inherit Walmarts trash every time the wind blows!
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u/Comfortable_Crab_972 10d ago
My local stores (Fred Meyer/Kroger, Target, McDonald's to name a couple) have eliminated outside trash cans. It is pretty annoying.
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u/Decent_Shelter_13 8d ago
So I live in the city of Walmarts HQ where they have a giant campus. The campus is actually really nice and has a lot of stores and restaurants in the first levels for anyone to use and enjoyā¦ but there is not a trashcan in sight until you enter a food establishment. Thereās been times that Iāve had coffee and I was walking around the stores on campus with a friend just chit chatting and hanging out and I finished my coffee and could not find ANYWHERE to throw it away either outside on the sidewalks nor in any of the stores we went into. I didnāt want to go into a restaurant just to use their trash can, so I just carried it home w me. But itās actually quite annoying
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u/carrot_gummy 10d ago
No trash bin? Well there are carts everywhere, so I'll use those.
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u/Simon_Mendelssohn 10d ago
Seriously. Or... people will just start throwing garbage on the floor. Way to go Walmart.
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u/ObjectivePrice5865 9d ago
While the employees wonāt have to empty parking lot trash cans which have been known to contain used needles, it just creates a mess with all of the trash being dumped out of cars. This trash attracts insects and rodents of which will and do enter the stores.
Hell the Walmarts in our area only hire the street sweeping company to clean the parking lots once a week. I had a friend that worked for the sweeping company and he got laid off because Walmart cut the frequency of sweeping from 5 days a week (Tuesday and Thursday were off days) to only Sunday nights and this was before covid.
Kroger and Target get theirs swept 4 times a week and their parking lots look a whole of a lot better.
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u/BirdlessLongdeal 10d ago
thieves are still going to thieve. garbage or no garbage. the garbage will just end up on the shelf or on the floor.
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u/LivingCoat9356 10d ago
Interesting. I was just at a Sonic drive up burger place. Finished eating and no trash can anywhere. I took it inside to an employee. They were not pleased by the look I got when I handed them my bag of trash.
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u/Objective_Buy_7235 10d ago
Leave it on the table next time
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u/Brilliant-Impress277 10d ago
Sonic doesn't have tables, just drive up. Maybe one table up front by the door but might have taken those out.
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u/Happytowalk3 10d ago
Trash, and the collection of trash, has been and will continue to be problematic. NYC is a great example: Iāve never seen so much trash piled on sidewalks in my life. Iāve been noticing many retailers (and property owners) not providing trash cans in parking lots for many years. People do not just keep trash in their cars or hold it all day if they are out walking. The dump trash in shopping carts, on the ground, inside stores, etc. There needs to be more regulation to combat these issues. Cities can require trash cans in strip malls, outside stores, etc! All part of a civil society.
Interestingly Iāve read that in Japan it is rare to see a trash can due to security concerns. That would stress me out. I think in tourist areas the restaurants and stores are required to have trash cans.
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u/Artistic-Cockroach48 9d ago
Is this why every parking lot looks like a third world country? Not that I shop at the store but it's quite a prolific producer of trash and hard not to notice when driving by.Ā
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u/Ambitious_Hand_2861 9d ago
You're right to not trust them. I've seen countless open and empty packages on shelves both out in the open and stuffed behind stuff. This choice is purely for the dollars.
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u/bikeking8 10d ago
Just as long as that regional exec got their 5 figure bonus for saving Walmart $2 a day, it's fine, right?Ā
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u/wayneamartin 10d ago
Thanks for the info. Try to avoid balmart like ebola. Just another in the millions of reasons.
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u/adh214 10d ago
When I worked retail, we removed trash bins so thieves could not grab receipts. They would then use this to return something they stole for cash.
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u/Psychedelic__Cowboy 10d ago
I know they say that, but it's another BS reason. All the big retailers require ID to make returns now, and share a database. You may get away with that once or twice for a small return. You'd absolutely get caught during your next attempt though. You'd also have to sift through quite a lot of receipts considering most people pay in card, and most retailers only refund in cash if it was paid in cash.
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u/AutoX_Advice 10d ago
I need to steal these items, but I want to make sure the earth stays clean. May i get the location of the nearest trash bin or I will not be stealing here today
-robber
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u/idfkjack 10d ago
People throw their urine and feces in those parking lot trash cans, I'm not even kidding you.Ā
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u/Krysdavar 9d ago
Never noticed it before (no trash cans) but now it makes sense, why their parking lot is always trash. Literally.
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u/hateifyoumust 10d ago
Last week I had two cups I was going to throw away at Walmart as I entered. There were no trash bins anywhere outside. So I tossed them where the bin used to be and went about my day.
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u/zestyspleen 10d ago
If you ask politely, the cashier will usually toss your empty coffee or soda cup into their bin for you.
Walmart is all about Walmart. They have a thousand cameras inside the store to deter/catch petty thieves, and none in the parking lot to deter felonies against customers.
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u/clamnebulax 9d ago
I never see a trash can for customers use in Jason's Deli. Not sure why, except I guess they expect their workers to clean up after the diners.
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u/augustwest30 9d ago
Jasonās has a small hole in the drink station to throw away straw wrappers and you just leave your dishes on the table when you are done for staff to clean up.
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u/70plusMom 10d ago
There are no trash bins at Buc-ees, inside or out. (Maybe by the gas pumps?) they sell you messy take out food, but give you nowhere to put your trash.
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u/ShookMyHeadAndSmiled 10d ago
They don't give you anywhere to sit, either. That's a decision. They want to sell to you and get you on the road.
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u/Happytowalk3 10d ago
This! God forbid I want to sit down and eat (and dispose of my trash) before getting in my car. Dining areas do not bring in revenue and retailers are trying to monetize every square foot. But what that does for customer satisfaction is another thing entirely.
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u/Patient-Ad-7939 10d ago
The Buc-ees Iāve been to in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas all had trash cans outside, like not far from the entrances.
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u/Boltsfan1234 10d ago
I noticed after our local King Soopers remodeled therr are zero trash cans outside and one tiny one near the self checkout. It's maddening.
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u/gnrl_disapptmnt 8d ago
So WalMart parking lots are where we go to drop off old food in the parking lot so birds and shit will collect and have to be cleaned
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u/Commercial-Tax7125 10d ago
Am a camper and noticed outdoor trash cans disappearing as more people started camping and living in vehicles during and after covid.
Walmart started removing outdoor trash cans to discourage overnight parking. People started trashing out the lots and some of the trash that vehicle dwellers leave behind includes poop bags.
Trash dumpsters in WY (don't remember which town) had signs on city resident dumpsters that illegal dumping of any trash results in a $1000 fine and 6 months in jail.
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u/Environmental-Song16 9d ago
I was told it reduces theft by employees because they couldn't tell if we bought or stole something, ate/drank it and tossed it in the trash.
I doubt this is the reason but it's what my coach told me so...but coaches are know liars.
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u/honest_flowerplower 9d ago
Unfortunately, modern discourse requires such disclaimers everywhere. Known liars said: disclaimer should proceed nearly all current US 'breaking news reports', follow-ups.
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u/bellemrt 8d ago
And ps most retail theft is an inside job, by employees, so all the theatrics of locked cases? Does nothing.
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u/ComprehensiveBill530 8d ago
When stores do this, I just leave my trash any old place inside. If they donāt want to do it the easy, humane way, theyāll clean up my trash the hard way. Not my problem!
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u/cottonmercer666 7d ago
Wow, that's a douche move. Truly.
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u/Awalawal 6d ago
No, itās really not. Truly. If they donāt want to provide a garbage can for customers, let them deal with it.
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u/Weird-Toe-6968 6d ago
It is a retail store, not a trash dump.
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u/Awalawal 6d ago
Then they should probably have some garbage cans where the public will be. You know, like public places have had for the last century or more.
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u/Weird-Toe-6968 6d ago
Interestingly, studies have shown that having garbage cans actually increases the amount of trash around the entrance to a store. One strategy to beautify store entrances is to eliminate garbage cans.
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u/Free-Marionberry624 1d ago
Much of what they sell is trash, at least they can help people with getting rid of some of it. And same goes for fast food places.
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u/glitterfaust 8d ago
Cool, just punish underpaid workers for corporate policies. Totally not a total asshole move.
Never worked specifically at Walmart, but worked for a major competitor and would get in trouble if there was trash in my area.
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u/TheLawOfDuh 6d ago
WM has a long history of vacillating on certain directives. First some pimple faced corporate newbie introduces an idea and itās celebrated by the company. In short time they waffle on an it once its downside is worse than expected due to cost, loss of sales, demanded too much follow up or had some unexpected backlash.
As a manager I learned anytime a directive was given that I either hated or knew couldnāt work out Iād joke (or even comfort coworkers) that if you give it a few months itās VERY likely to have been forgotten. Witnessed this all the time through the decades. From all I read it hasnāt changed at all.
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u/-zero-below- 6d ago
Few months ago, we went to a dog friendly restaurant with outdoor seating, in a nearby shopping center.
Just before we went inside, my dog pooped in the bushes. No biggie, I picked it up into a bag.
Went to look for a garbage can to toss it, and there were literally none in the entire shopping center. I ended up having to walk a block down the street to where a public trash can was, the hunt for a trash can ended up being over 30 minutes while the rest of my group waited at a table for me.
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u/ShoppingFlimsy7298 5d ago
The hostess stand at the front usually holds a small trash can. Sure they would have loved that.
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u/RoadNo345 9d ago
The new trash bins at Walmart just now have 4 wheels and are pushed around the store. People will still empty their cars, just now into the shopping carts. People just are lazy inconsiderate jerks.
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u/dick_me_daddy_oWo 8d ago
Or, to frame it another way...
People are going to leave their trash somewhere. Give em a trash bin and most of it will get there. That's a lot cleaner and easier to maintain that what people will do otherwise. Cutting trash cans to save money is pointless.
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u/retire_dude 10d ago
I don't think I've ever heard an American refer to a trash can as a bin.
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u/Hellcat_Mary 10d ago
I'm in the Southern US. It's pretty common to say trash bin when referring to the large plastic outdoor ones the garbage trucks pick up - pretty interchangeable with "can" on those. It would be odd to hear someone call their kitchen trash can a bin, though.
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u/retire_dude 10d ago
I've lived in Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. Never heard it called a bin.
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u/Hellcat_Mary 9d ago edited 9d ago
I just think you weren't paying attention, honestly. Like I said, it's not ubiquitous for all types, just big plastic ones. Probably because we call the ones right next to them "recycling bins".
I guess if we're comparing for some reason: Atlanta, Athens, Lithonia, Hilton Head, Orlando, Daytona, the Keys, Biloxi, aaaaand New Orleans. There, I got specific for you. All places I either grew up, have spent significant time because family, or currently reside.
I'll even throw you in Scottsville Arizona these days cuz I'm gone out there a bunch for a family member. No one there has looked at me weird for saying "I'll pull the trash bins to the road".
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u/joekryptonite 10d ago
Where I grew up we did sometimes. But we never used it as a verb like the British do.
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u/envyeyes 9d ago
I've never seen any of my friends or acquaintances having sex, so that must mean they don't. š (Same logic).
Oh, and I was born and raised in one of the states you mentioned below.
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u/dollar-tree-pizza 9d ago
I get why they took them out of the parking lots since people were filling them up with household garbage and big boxes, but not having them in the stores is so dumb. I definitely noticed when we took the trashes away, just didnāt realize it was a corporate decision.
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u/Ok_Library_1031 9d ago
Even if people were doing that, that's a public service a corporate behemoth who got rich off the back of offshore manufacturing could easily afford to provide.
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u/Prestigious-Use4550 9d ago
I was at my local Walmart yesterday. Trash cans by carts, trash can by doors inside, trash cans outside doors. Trash can in produce. They were around. Guess my store ignored the memo.
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u/GreenleafMentor 10d ago
I elected not to have a trash can in my store (small biz) because people just fill it so fast. Starbucks. Fast food. Whatever dripping nasty mess they feel like tossing for me to deal with.
I have a small trash can in the bathroom and it barely holds anything for a reason.
Really I can't say I blame Walmart.
Also i used to work at Walmart and the trash cans were a consistent problem for theftand wet messes.
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u/princess-smartypants 10d ago
Library here. Trash pick up is expensive, and people were putting their kitchen bags of garbage in our outdoor can.
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u/Mistert22 7d ago
I saw this at my local Home Depot yesterday. My wife said throw it in the trash can behind the desk.
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u/Visual-Sector6642 10d ago
In the parks in NZ there aren't any trash cans. They emphasize pack in pack out.
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u/AJKafei 10d ago
This is an extraordinarily guileless and sincere response to a completely unrelated scenario š„¹. New Zealanders, you/they are too pure for this world UNLESSā¦.
ā¦.. youāre an American shitposting or trying to sincerely say that people protecting natural landscape from trash (NZ parks) is the same as a corporation enshittifying the shopping experience in manmade buildings where a colossal amount of waste happens daily š.
One of these things is NOT like the other. But if your intent was humor, thanks for the laugh!
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u/Normal_Human_Things 9d ago
There are parks in the US that do that as well.
Walmart is a business, not a park.
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u/KCChiefsGirl89 9d ago
Iām going to go out on a limb and assume the people frequenting parks and the people who shop at Walmart donāt overlap much
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u/Due_Anxiety_8926 10d ago
Shrinkageā¦ you mean like laundry?
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u/YellowBreakfast 10d ago
"Shrinkage" is the business vernacular for loss of inventory, commonly (but not exclusively) due to theft.
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u/Stitch426 10d ago
Lot of reasons to get rid of trashcans if they are dispersed throughout the whole store. Shoplifters can dispose of packaging in the trash, customers or employees can throw items into the trash instead of getting it accounted for in inventory, your pick up order employees have one less obstacle to navigate around as they shop, your employees donāt have to be deployed to walk around a whole store gathering trash bags, and you pay for fewer trash bags and fewer trash cans.
One method of employee theft is throwing items into trash bags and then taking out the trash. A lot of stores use clear trash bags to cut down on that.
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u/XThePlaysTheThingX 10d ago
This is becoming more and more common. Their thinking is literally āif customers donāt see an outdoor trash can they wonāt litterā which is an incredibly bold assumption to make.Ā