Losing a removable lid to a container can be frustrating. Using a garbage can as an example, the lid can be thrown away with the garbage, blown away by the wind, carried away by a dog, and lost by countless other ways. When you go to the store to buy a lid you have to buy the garbage can as well. This can become costly if the lid continuously becomes lost plus the wasted space storing the collection of lidless garbage cans. Not having lids also attracts unwanted critters where they will make a mess of the garbage and spread it around the yard.

This product will robustly retain the lid to the container preventing loss. The retaining tether is designed to maintain a strong connection to a wall of thin plastic on both ends of the tether. The design is so robust that it could alternatively be used as a quick snap on handle for a cardboard box or thin walled plastic container.

The lid retaining system is designed with a tether and a snap on clip. The tether and snap on clip would be injection molded using nylon but other suitable plastics may be used as well. The tether is design with one end to be small so that it can pass through a hole in the container and the lid. When the small end of the tether is pushed through the hole a snap on clip is installed to retain this end. The other end of the tether has an integrated large disk to retain that end.

There are two snap on clip designs, the first is a simple "C" shaped clip and the other is a fold over locking clip. The fold over clip is joined by a living hinge on one end and locks together with a locking pin on the other end. There is also in integral collar that would push into the hole of the thin walled container. This prevents the clip from becoming unassembled from the lid or container due to usage.

The lid retaining system does not mount permanently to the thin walled plastic where the tether is allowed to rotate and translate through the holes in the lid and container. The retaining disks on either end of the tether provide a limiter of movement only . Attaching the lid restraining system in this manner provides a long and robust product life. When the lid is removed the retaining system holds the lid to the side of the container out of the way of the user.

Production costs to make this product versus potential sales volume proves to be very beneficial. The product itself can be molded in a multicavity tool where both the tether and snap on clip can be shot together attached by a living hinge. It has been estimated that across the US that there is a market of at least 100 million households that could use this product which provides for a promising profit potential.