I have the Hafele silver pedal opener--love it! It is harder to close the door (than it would be w/out the opener) because of the bungees, but I really like being able to open the trash cab without touching the handle with icky hands. Our cab installer kept playing around to get the door to close more flush with the adjacent cabs during our install. I called Hafele and was told to have our KD/cab guys contact them and they'd arrange to send their own tech out to take a look and make any necessary adjustments. I made the appt with an area rep who came along with the tech (who lives a few towns over from us). They were both as nice as could be, made a few simple adjustments (tightened some screws mostly) and left me their cards if we have need of their services in the future. I do find that if I don't close the door tightly (with a little force), it doesn't close as tightly/flush as I'd like. Then, I just pop it open, and close it again. We have a full height 24" wide door on our trash cab BTW. The only time I ever find the pedal opener to be annoying in the least, is if I'm cleaning up the kitchen, and end up closing and opening the door a million times because I keep thinking I've thrown out the last piece of garbage, but I keep coming across one more piece of trash to toss out!

I have the toe kick kind so sorry I can't help but I've linked a previous discussion on this topic below. Here is a link that might be useful: prev thread on hands free trash

I agonized over the trash location as well. I've always had freestanding trashcans sitting somewhere - usually in the way - on the floor of my kitchen and have always hated them. I've never been able to find one that I liked or that matched my kitchen, so I've always just had to settle for whatever I could find. I can't stand to have my trash can in the pantry - it just seems incongruous to have my trash in there with my food. I don't like the idea of having it under the sink because I don't like having two functions in the same place. Why agonize? I loathed the idea of having to open the trash with my potentially dirty hands and those free standing cans always had a hands free option. Enter the GW Kitchen forum where I learned about the foot pedal for trash cabinets and the whole thing was decided. I absolutely LOVE having my trash hidden in a cabinet. No one has to move out of the way in order for someone else to access it. Yes, guests have to be told where it is -- but how is that different than anyone else's kitchen? In any kitchen that doesn't have a freestanding trash cans out in the open, aren't guests always having to ask? I never know if it's under the sink or in the pantry or in the adjoining utility room, etc. To review: I love my pull out trash because it's: -- Hidden -- Accessible -- Hands free -- In a convenient and acceptable (to me) location

Many have alluded to this, but to say it explicitly: Where people have dishes or whatever by the trash, the cabinetry is all made in modular boxes. Each set of drawers or cabinet, or trash pullout, is made in its own case, which are installed by attaching them together and attaching to the wall. Therefore, you have the side walls of the case in which the trash pullout is installed and the side walls of the case for whatever is next to it, between the outside of your trash can and whatever you have stored nearby. My cabinets, though not all, also have a full shelf-type divider between the trash pullout and the drawer above it, so there isn't any interaction. Nevertheless, I mostly keep less used cleaning things in that drawer. But I don't like putting the icky trash in the cabinetry at all. I use the pullout for recycling--one bin for returnables and one for general pickup. The garbage goes in my old covered Rubbermaid pail, which can fit under the sink, but which I keep out when I have icky things to throw in it. The garbage cans are down a flight of stairs, so the kitchen pail only gets emptied a couple of times per week. We don't have a lot of garbage and it's inconvenient to take it out more often (unless it's very icky or starts to smell). You may find that you prefer to use your Simple Human can that way, but it's a good idea to put the pullout in, as it's an expected thing nowadays. Our recycling takes things like the plastic boxes from produce, so I have a lot more recycling anyway, and that's more or less clean.