[Vocabulary] ‘banks’ for recycling glass

[ambitious-girl]

Hi all,
what does 'banks' mean here? I couldn't fine that definition in any dictionaries.

Most supermarkets now provide reusable bags for shoppers as well as ‘banks’ for recycling glass, plastic and paper in their car parks. By reusing and recycling, we can help to reduce waste.

 

[Rover_KE]

I'm surprised that dictionaries have been slow to catch up with this use of 'bank', as the word has been in use for a good number of years with this meaning.

Think of it as a depository or a container to put recyclable things in.

If you insist on confirmation by a dictionary, click here.

I had to go quite a long way down this list before I found that.

 

[Tdol]

Most do have the store/depository meaning:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/bank_1 (3a)
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/bank (5)

Maybe they should add recycling to the list of things.

 

[Skrej]

I haven't heard of it used this way. I've just heard them referred to as 'recycling drops' or 'recycling bins'.

 

[emsr2d2]

The large public "bins" where people can take their recycling have been called "recycling banks" for as long as I can remember in the UK. The small boxes outside our houses where we put small amounts of household recycling (not every house in the country has one) are called "recycling boxes". Some councils provide larger receptacles for individual houses - those are "recycling bins".

I have a recycling box outside my block of flats.
My mum has a recycling bin outside her house.
My friend in another town has to take all her recycling to the local recycling bank.

 

[Tdol]

I haven't heard of it used this way. I've just heard them referred to as 'recycling drops' or 'recycling bins'.

We do have banks in the UK.

 

[ambitious-girl]

I wouldn't bank on it happening soon. ;-)

Teacher, what does sentence above mean?

 

[Skrej]

Hmm, I'm curious if this is a BrE vs. AmE difference, or just my own ignorance.

I've heard of various other banks such as food banks, but not recycling banks.

 

[GoesStation]

This American would not have associated "bank" and "recycling" before reading this thread.

We call the boxes the trash company gives us "recycling bins".

 

[Rover_KE]

We call the boxes the trash company gives us "recycling bins".

That's what we in the UK call the bins/boxes/bags we have in our own yards.

'Banks' are much larger containers on supermarket car parks etc for the general public to use.

 

[andrewg927]

It must be a BE vs AE difference. The thing at Best Buy where you put your used/old/broken electronics in, I call them "recycling bins".

 

[Skrej]

That's what we in the UK call the bins/boxes/bags we have in our own yards.

'Banks' are much larger containers on supermarket car parks etc for the general public to use.

It sounds like it's a regional difference then. AmE still refers to the pictured item as a bin or box. Earlier in the year there was a story about a woman who got her arm stuck in one trying to steal donated clothing, and consequently died from exposure. It was large enough she had to stand on something to reach in, and was then left dangling by her trapped arm when whatever she was standing on gave way.

This search for that story shows different headlines using both 'box' and 'bin' in AmE.

 

[Tdol]

Teacher, what does sentence above mean?

It's a joke- bank as a verb can mean count/depend.