An apparatus comprising one or more of a surface treatment apparatus having an air treatment member and a refuse container wherein at least one of the surface treatment apparatus and the refuse container is provided with one or more of (a) a dust control member providing a dust control agent comprising one or more of a liquid mist, positive ions and negative ions to an area below a dirt emptying outlet of a dirt collection region of the surface treatment apparatus; and, (b) a treatment applicator providing a treatment agent comprising one or more of a deodorizing agent, a disinfecting agent and a sanitizing agent to an interior volume of the air treatment member and an interior volume of the refuse container.

A trash compactor system includes a receptacle defining a retaining chamber that is configured to receive and retain trash, a compaction plate moveably secured within the retaining chamber, and a foot pedal operatively coupled to the compaction plate. Engagement of the foot pedal moves the compaction plate within the retaining chamber to compact the trash retained within the retaining chamber. A flap may cover an opening into the retaining chamber. The foot pedal may also be operatively coupled to the flap, such that the engagement of the foot pedal moves the flap into an open position that exposes the opening.

A surface cleaning apparatus has an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet to a clean air outlet with a main air treatment member having a dirt collection region having an openable door and a main suction motor provided in the air flow path. The dirt collection region is exposed to sub-atmospheric pressure when the openable door is in an open position.

A lid for a refuse container is moveable between a closed position in which the lid overlies an open upper end of the refuse container and an open position in which the refuse container may be emptied. The lid has an openable port operable between a closed position in which the lid closes the upper end of the refuse container and an open position in which a dirt collection region of an air treatment member of a surface cleaning apparatus is positioned in the port.

A trashcan system is disclosed herein. In various aspects, the trashcan system includes an inlet located about a trashcan to be proximate to a surface upon which the trashcan is placed in order to entrain materials disposed upon the surface into air communicated into the inlet. The trashcan system, in various aspects, includes a collector disposed within the trashcan. A chamber of the collector may receive air with materials entrained therein communicated from the inlet, and the chamber may be adapted to collect materials entrained in the air. An exit may be located about the trashcan that communicates with the chamber to exhaust the air from the chamber, in various aspects. A vacuum assembly located about the trashcan, the vacuum assembly cooperates with the inlet, the chamber, and the exit to communicate the air into the inlet, through the chamber, to the exit where the air is exhausted.

The invention provides a closed system for collecting, mulching and storing natural yard waste in a manner that saves time and labor. Storage of the natural yard waste is enabled by use of off the shelf bags instead of customized bags that must be later dumped into a generic storage housing. The system is empowered by a device that is attachable to such off the shelf bags and fully uses their volume so that maximum storage is achieved.

A method for feeding in and transporting material in a pneumatic conveying system includes at least one input point, a material conveying pipe, and a material container. A partial-vacuum source produces a partial vacuum/a pressure difference and a transporting air current in the conveying pipe. A shut-off element, arranged on an opposite side of an input aperture with respect to a feeder channel, is movable by suction from a first position, in which the shut-off element does not make a pathway through an input aperture into the feeder channel smaller, into a second position, in which the shut-off element does make the pathway through the input aperture into the feeder channel smaller, when the pressure on a first side, on the feeder channel side, of the shut-off element is smaller than on a second side, on an opposite side with respect to the feeder channel, of the shut-off element.

A garbage can has a container having a lid moveable between a closed position and an open position and a suction motor having a suction motor inlet end in air flow communication with the interior volume of the container and a suction motor outlet end in air flow communication with the ambient exterior to the container.

A surface cleaning apparatus has an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet to a clean air outlet with a main air treatment member having a dirt collection region having an openable door and a main suction motor provided in the air flow path. The dirt collection region is exposed to sub-atmospheric pressure when the openable door is in an open position.

A lid for a refuse container is moveable between a closed position in which the lid overlies an open upper end of the refuse container and an open position in which the refuse container may be emptied. The lid has an openable port operable between a closed position in which the lid closes the upper end of the refuse container and an open position in which a dirt collection region of an air treatment member of a surface cleaning apparatus is positioned in the port.