{"id":27422,"date":"2026-09-20T19:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T17:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/?p=27422"},"modified":"2026-10-09T17:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T15:36:37","slug":"kitchen-recycling-bin-pull-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/kitchen-recycling-bin-pull-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Kitchen waste separation: 2, 3 or 4 compartments in the pull-out?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Three compartments are the right number for most households: general waste, food waste and packaging.<\/strong> Last updated: September 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list kk-1min\">\n<li>Which system fits is decided by the cabinet width, not by the bucket.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Two compartments fit in 45 cm. Once food waste is to come into the kitchen, the 45 cm is at its limit.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>More compartments at the same width mean smaller buckets. The largest one belongs to general waste.<\/li>\n\n\n<li>How many litres remain in the sink cabinet is decided by the bowl, the trap and the Quooker reservoir.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kitchen buying guide \u00b7 Module 5: Storage &amp; carcass | Previous step: <a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/kitchen-hardware-hettich-blum-kesseboehmer\/\">Comparing hardware<\/a> | Next step: <a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/kitchen-fronts-material-comparison\/\">Fronts compared<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/assets\/blog\/muelltrennung-kueche-auszug\/muelltrennung-blanco-select-ii-60-4.webp\" data-elementor-open-lightbox=\"yes\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/assets\/blog\/muelltrennung-kueche-auszug\/muelltrennung-blanco-select-ii-60-4.webp\" alt=\"Blanco Select II 60\/4 waste separation system in the pull-out under the sink\" width=\"948\" height=\"670\" loading=\"eager\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Four streams in the 60 cm pull-out: the Blanco Select II 60\/4 sits under the sink. Product image: Blanco.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why waste separation in the kitchen is a question of width<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waste separation in the kitchen is decided by the cabinet width, not by the bucket: in the Blanco SELECT II range the 45 cm wide cabinet stops at 2 streams (45\/2), and only the 60 cm allows 2, 3 or 4 (60\/2, 60\/3, 60\/4). More streams at the same width does not mean more volume, but smaller buckets: the 60\/3 model divides 45 litres into 3 x 15 litres, the XL 60\/3 model gives general waste 30 litres and food waste and recyclables 8 litres each, 46 litres in total. The second rule is in no catalogue: the waste pull-out almost always sits in the sink cabinet, and there the top 30 to 35 cm are already given over to the bowl and the trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>System<\/th>\n<th>Compartments<\/th>\n<th>Cabinet width<\/th>\n<th>Volume<\/th>\n<th>Position<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\">Blanco SELECT II 45\/2<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">2<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">from 45 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">2 buckets<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">its own 45 cm cabinet next to the sink<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\">Blanco SELECT II 60\/2<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">2<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">from 60 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">2 buckets<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">sink cabinet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\">Blanco SELECT II 60\/3<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">3<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">from 60 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">45 L (3 x 15 L)<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">sink cabinet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\"><strong>Blanco FLEXON II Low 80\/3 or 90\/4, our standard from 80 cm<\/strong><\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">3 or 4<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">80 or 90 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">flexible frame system, division to suit the household<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">sink cabinet, front pull-out with soft-close<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\">Blanco SELECT II XL 60\/3<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">3<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">from 60 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">46 L (1 x 30 L + 2 x 8 L)<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">sink cabinet, front pull-out with soft-close<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\"><strong>Blanco SELECT II 60\/4 Orga, our standard in the 60 cm<\/strong><\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">4<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">from 60 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">42 L (2 x 15 L + 2 x 6 L) plus an organiser drawer<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">sink cabinet or its own 60 cm cabinet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\">Hailo Raumspar-Tandem (what you see elsewhere)<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">3<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">from about 45 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">29 L (1 x 12 L + 2 x 8.5 L)<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">sink cabinet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\">Ninka eins2vier (what you see elsewhere)<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">2 to 4, modular<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">45 \/ 60 \/ 90 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">e.g. 2 x 25 L in the 60 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">pull-out<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-label=\"System\">Kolev: FLEXON II Low in a made-to-measure divided sink cabinet<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Compartments\">3 plus a services compartment<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Cabinet width\">sink cabinet 80 or 90 cm<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Volume\">three buckets next to the trap and the reservoir<\/td>\n<td data-label=\"Position\">sink cabinet, the division follows the services<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two compartments in the 45 cm: when that is enough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two compartments in a 45 cm wide pull-out are enough when only general waste and packaging are separated in the kitchen and food waste ends up outside in its own container, in the garden or the utility room. For this Blanco builds the SELECT II 45\/2, and in a short run 45 cm is often the only width left beside the sink and the dishwasher. But as soon as food waste is to come into the kitchen too, the 45 cm is at its limit. Anyone forcing 3 streams into 45 cm gets a market system like the Hailo Raumspar-Tandem with 12 litres of general waste and 2 x 8.5 litres, 29 litres in total, so less than half of what a 60 cm can give to general waste alone (30 litres with the Blanco SELECT II XL 60\/3). The 45 cm is enough for 2 streams, not for 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three or four compartments in the 60 cm: volume is divided, not added<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three compartments in the 60 cm wide cabinet are the right number for most households. The division counts more than the number of compartments: general waste is the most, and with the Blanco SELECT II XL 60\/3 it gets the 30 litres, food waste and recyclables 8 litres each. The 60\/3 model without XL divides almost the same volume into 3 x 15 litres. Three equal-sized buckets sound fair, but then the general waste is full first while the food waste stands half empty and smells. Four compartments divide the same volume smaller again: the SELECT II 60\/4 Orga, our standard in the 60 cm, gives 42 litres as two 15-litre and two 6-litre buckets and adds an organiser drawer on top. The two 6-litre buckets are right for food waste, which should stay small anyway, or take paper if it really does come into the kitchen. Ninka eins2vier shows the other logic, the modular kit: up to 4 buckets in the 60 cm, freely combinable, for example 2 x 25 litres. Anyone who wants 4 compartments first reads the litres per bucket in the data sheet, not just the number of compartments in the offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The mistake almost everyone makes: the sink cabinet is already half full<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most common mistake in kitchen waste separation is to choose the system by cabinet width, even though in the sink cabinet roughly the top 30 to 35 cm from the top of the worktop go to the bowl and the trap. Depending on the bowl and the trap, often only part of the theoretical volume remains usable in the base unit. If a Quooker is added, its reservoir of 3 litres (PRO3) or 7 litres (COMBI) also sits in the sink cabinet, exactly where the pull-out is meant to run. The bowl, trap, reservoir and waste system compete for the same carcass, and in the catalogue that often ends with a 60\/2, because &#8220;no more would fit&#8221;, or with a freestanding bin next to the run. Blanco sizes its waste systems explicitly to sink and tap dimensions. That solves the trap, not the reservoir. So the rule from the guide <a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/quooker-vs-kitchen-tap\/\">Quooker or tap<\/a> applies here too: the reservoir goes in the plan, not in the pull-out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The German reality: streams are municipal, food waste smells, glass stays outside<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The waste streams in Germany are governed at municipal level: general waste and paper are separated everywhere, the separate collection of food waste has been a legal requirement since 2015, and packaging runs, depending on the municipality, as a yellow bag, a yellow bin or a recycling bin. For the pull-out that means: 3 compartments cover general waste, food waste and packaging, the three streams that arise daily. Paper and cardboard are bulky, and an 8-litre compartment is too small for them. Paper belongs in a box or straight into the paper bin. Glass goes to the bottle bank in three colours, deposit bottles back to the shop. Both need room for a box in the tall unit or the utility room, not a bucket in the pull-out. Food waste smells, and the answer is not a bigger bucket but a small one: 8 litres are full quickly and are emptied before they smell. The plastic bucket is taken out and rinsed under the tap. That is why 30\/8\/8 is the more suitable division than 3 x 15 for a household with a food-waste bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What it costs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the market a waste system appears as its own line in the offer, and the range between a two-bucket insert and a front pull-out with soft-close is wide. That is why the brand, model, number of compartments and litres belong in the offer, not the words &#8220;waste separation system&#8221;. At Kolev the waste system follows the cabinet width and is part of the fixed price: in the 60 cm the Blanco SELECT II 60\/4 Orga, in the 80 cm or 90 cm the flexible FLEXON II Low. The pull-out layout around the trap and the reservoir is not a custom-size surcharge, because in our Manufaktur, our own production facility, every carcass is drawn individually anyway. A kitchen at Kolev starts from \u20ac14,999 incl. VAT, including planning, delivery and installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How we do it at Kolev<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the workshop drawing the sink cabinet is drawn first around the services, that is, around the bowl, the trap and the Quooker reservoir of 3 or 7 litres, and only then around the waste pull-out. The Blanco FLEXON II Low gets its full width and sits in a front pull-out with soft-close, with a recessed grip instead of a handle and the same 3 mm gap between fronts as the pull-outs beside it. With us Kesseb\u00f6hmer stays food storage and corner, waste is Blanco. If the width is not enough for both, the sink cabinet is drawn wider and divided to measure, one compartment for the reservoir and the trap, the full width for the three buckets; or the waste pull-out moves to the neighbouring cabinet. In practice, the Quooker reservoir and a SELECT II share the same sink cabinet in only about one in five of our kitchens, because together they need a lot of depth. Otherwise the waste system does not go under the sink, or the Quooker gets a sacrificial cabinet (Opferschrank): a narrow cabinet of around 30 to 40 cm next to the sink that holds only the Quooker technology and gives up its storage for it. Which variant is decided by the floor plan in the 3D site survey, not by the grid. The workshop drawing is archived permanently. If the tap is changed later, the layout is documented and can be remade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many compartments does a kitchen waste separation system need?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three: general waste, food waste and packaging, because these three streams arise daily. Paper belongs in a box, glass and deposit bottles go to the bottle bank and back to the shop. Two compartments are enough if food waste is collected outside the kitchen; four only if paper really is to come in too and the smaller buckets are accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does a waste separation system fit in a 45 cm wide cabinet?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, with 2 streams: the Blanco SELECT II 45\/2 is built for it. Three streams in 45 cm exist on the market (Hailo Raumspar-Tandem, 1 x 12 L + 2 x 8.5 L), but with 12 litres of general waste, less than half the 30 litres in the 60 cm XL. As soon as food waste is to come into the kitchen, a 60 cm wide cabinet is the honest answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does the waste system go in the sink cabinet or in its own pull-out?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the sink cabinet, if enough space remains under the bowl and the trap (roughly the top 30 to 35 cm from the top edge) and no reservoir is added. With a Quooker (3 or 7 litres) four things compete for the same carcass. Then the sink cabinet is drawn wider and divided to measure, the pull-out moves to the neighbouring cabinet, or the Quooker gets its own narrow cabinet beside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why does general waste get the largest compartment?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because general waste is the most and food waste should stay small. A flexible system like the Blanco FLEXON II divides the buckets to suit the household. The Blanco SELECT II XL 60\/3 shows the logic with 30 litres of general waste and 8 litres each for food waste and recyclables, while the 60\/3 model without XL divides 45 litres into three equal buckets. An 8-litre food-waste bucket is full quickly and is emptied before it smells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can the waste pull-out be handleless?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, the Blanco FLEXON II sits in a front pull-out that comes out like a drawer and closes with soft-close: you take hold of the front itself through the same recessed grip as the pull-outs beside it and pull it towards you, with a 3 mm gap between fronts, without push-to-open. Which other pull-outs belong in the run is covered in the guide <a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/drawers-vs-internal-pull-outs\/\">drawers or an internal pull-out<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Next step: the first consultation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to know whether your sink cabinet can carry 3 compartments and a reservoir at the same time, then let&#8217;s talk. In the first consultation we look at your floor plan, your wishes and your budget, directly with the architect, 45 to 60 minutes, for Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region. <strong>Personal. Free of charge. No sales pressure.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And a piece of advice no kitchen studio likes to give: get three offers and compare them. We are one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"\/en\/start\/\">Book a first consultation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Divided to measure applies in the sink cabinet too: the <a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/made-to-measure-kitchen\/\">made-to-measure kitchen (Ma\u00dfk\u00fcche)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kitchen buying guide \u00b7 Module 5: Storage &amp; carcass | Previous step: <a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/kitchen-hardware-hettich-blum-kesseboehmer\/\">Comparing hardware<\/a> | Next step: <a href=\"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/guides\/kitchen-fronts-material-comparison\/\">Fronts compared<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two compartments fit in 45 cm, three or four need 60 cm. In the sink cabinet, bowl, trap and reservoir take the space. How many compartments a household needs, and when 45 cm falls short.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","category-storage-carcass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27422"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29018,"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27422\/revisions\/29018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kolev-kuechen.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}