Yes—but not with the average street bin. A standard urban trash can is usually sized for occasional litter, not for a steady flow of coffee cups, lids, sleeves, and half-finished food containers. When people dump those into one bin, it fills fast, smells, attracts pests, and mixes recyclable cups with greasy food waste.
Cities and campuses that handle this well use higher-capacity public bins, often smart solar compactors that press waste down and signal when full. Some also install separate streams: one for recyclable cups and lids where local recycling accepts them, one for food-contaminated containers, and one for general waste. Coffee cups are tricky because many are lined with plastic, so they’re only recyclable in specific programs. Food containers need to be emptied and scraped before recycling, and compostable ones need a compost collection route.
For a single building or event, the practical answer is to rent or request larger wheeled bins or event waste stations and increase collection frequency. Pair them with signs showing what goes where, place them where people finish drinks and food, and add lids or rain covers. If overflow is already a problem, ask the property manager or city sanitation department for a waste audit; they may switch to compacting bins, add cup-specific recycling, or adjust pickup schedules.
So yes, urban trash bins can handle lots of coffee cups and food containers—but only when they’re the right type, paired with sorting and reliable collection. Ordinary bins will just overflow faster.