That's a great question! Yes, you can definitely find public waste bins specifically designed to handle both recycling and general trash together. These are often called "dual-stream" or "multi-stream" waste receptacles. You'll commonly see them in parks, downtown streets, airports, and university campuses.
A typical unit has two or three clearly labeled openings—one for trash (landfill) and one or two for recyclables like paper, plastic, and cans. The key design feature is that these streams are collected in separate, internal compartments within the same outer shell. This makes it convenient for people to dispose of items correctly without needing to find two separate bins.
Their main benefit is encouraging proper sorting at the point of disposal, which increases recycling rates and reduces contamination. When you're out and about, look for bins with bold, standardized icons and sometimes color-coding (like blue for recycling). So next time you have a bottle and a snack wrapper, there's a good chance you can dispose of both sustainably at a single station.