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As a small business owner, especially a restaurant owner, you have to deal with trash. It’s part of your daily operations but if you don’t treat it carefully and follow some pretty strict guidelines, your business can wind up in the dumpster.  

Restaurants operate under several very detailed health department regulations which include proper food storage temperatures, food preparation cleanliness standards and of course food waste and disposal regulations, that can wind up as a major health code violation. The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) dictates that garbage disposal containers must be watertight, readily cleanable and non-absorbent with close-fitting covers. That can easily be accomplished by new trash containers but what happens after six months or a year of daily use? Rust, holes, corrosion and other damage to these containers forces restaurants to frequently replace containers which negatively affects the business’s bottom line. But here’s the good news: a trash container bought today can be made to last for years with just a small additional investment and help from your friends at LINE-X.

Fans of LINE-X known them for its exterior vehicle-coatings and world-class bedliners, but what they might not know is that LINE-X protective coatings can be used to protect just about anything you can imagine. In this case, garbage and recycling containers for restaurants.

Recently, a franchise owner of a popular food chain discovered their trash cans were decaying at a rapid pace, creating a food-safety risk. Food waste is extremely corrosive and as it breaks down and makes its way to the bottom of the can, these 30-galllon, steel cans begin to corrode and fail, resulting in the need for replacement cans every six to 12 months.

Knowing this was going to be permanent and reoccurring issue, the restaurant tried to combat the problem by applying a protective coating from another company, but unfortunately that coating failed. After some research on better products, the restaurant quickly approached its local LINE-X franchise for a much higher-quality, and permanent solution. The restaurant needed a protective coating they could trust and LINE-X had just what they needed – an extremely durable polyurethane/polyurea hybrid coating that would last for years.

The Solution? LINE-X Protective Coatings

The restaurant started by purchasing three new garbage cans which were brought to its local LINE-X franchise. The restaurant opted for new garbage cans because using old or rusted garbage cans would require sandblasting to remove all the rust and priming to enhance bonding.

LINE-X began a careful process of substrate preparation by sanding the new cans with 80-grit sandpaper to ensure the LINE-X XS-100 protective coating could adhere properly. The coating was sprayed to a thickness of 60mils to the inside walls and the floor of the cans to provide corrosion protection. In addition to the standard coating, LINE-X went the extra mile by using its Patch Kit to hand-seal the pinch weld at the bottom providing added strength which reduces the possibility of a failure down the road. LINE-X XS-100 was brought up-and-over the lip of the barrel, resulting in the most protection possible for the restaurant owner. And the best part is, the LINE-X protective coating was completed in 30 minutes, so the garbage cans were ready to use that night! Take that, paint and powder coating.

The LINE-X solution is now preventing the growth of bacteria and food-born illness while preventing corrosion and adding longevity which keeps the restaurant owner happy. Thanks to LINE-X, the expected lifespan of the garbage cans is now three-to-five times longer than untreated cans. Ultimately, the cost to add a LINE-X protective coatings to new cans ultimately saved the restaurant a significant amount of time and money over the frequent replacement of untreated cans. The restaurant was so impressed with the results, they had its local franchise spray several more garbage cans. It kind of makes you wonder, what else can be made to last longer by adding a LINE-X protective coating?

LINE-X has more than 550 locations throughout North America, making it easy to get world-class protection for your truck or unique project. To locate the nearest franchise, visit the Find a Location section of LINE-X’s website and enter an address, city, state or zip code.