Like many people, we have a kitchen waste bin, with a plastic cannister inside a metal outer. We use a plastic bin liner to keep the waste neatly contained. When the time comes to empty the bin, sometimes the liner is hard to remove because the liner forms a seal round the inner circumference of bin, so pulling the liner up forms a vacuum under the liner until enough air can leak round it to allow the liner to start to move.
If there was a hole in the bottom in the base of the cannister the air could enter, and the bin liner could be removed more easily, but if there was liquid in the kitchen waste and it escaped from the liner then instead of just making a mess in the inside of the cannister, the metal outer, and kitchen floor would need to be cleaned.
A better solution would be a set of air tubes, moulded into the cannister, which led from the inner wall of the cannister at the base to the top. These would allow air in, but any liquid which escaped the liner would not escape the bin.
The optimum diameter of the air tubes is a matter of experiment, and, as the cannister would be weaker along the route of the tube, it might have to be thickened along the route to compensate.
Possible problems
Manufacturing
The air tubes are possibly too long for a single injection moulding process.
Cleaning
A long thin brush, like a pipe cleaner, might be needed from time to clear the air holes if there had been a leakage of something wet and sticky.
FreeCAD Model
I might do a FreeCAD model to illustrate this, and if so will put this here, but want to get this post out of the way.
Dragon’s Den
I enjoy the TV program Dragon’s Den, and am aware from that of the huge gulf between an idea and a product, and the equally large journey from product to commercially successful product and that is not a journey I want to embark on, however if some kitchen bin manufacturer does pick this up and make a better bin then I will be happy. As this has been published they will not be able to patent it to have exclusive access, but as most of the work is in testing and designing a manufacturing process, they can evaluate if the price premium for the improved product will be justified by increased market share.