Dave wrote:

but that required manual handling with the risk of repetitive strain
injuries.

That didn't bother them before wheelie bins.

Quite. When I were a lad the bin man would go through to the back garden,
pick up the metal bin, carry it on his back to the road, tip it over his
shoulder into the bin waggon then put the bin back where he found it in the
back garden.

--
Mike Clarke