It was sung by the Muppet character Oscar the Grouch (performed by Caroll Spinney) on Sesame Street.
In the song, Oscar sings about the trash he so admires; he presents a tattered and worn sneaker that's covered with holes and has torn laces ("A gift from my mother the day I was born..."), a 13-month old newspaper with smelly, cold fish wrapped inside (a piece of waste that Oscar affirms he "wouldn't trade for a big pot of gold"), a defective clock, an old telephone, a broken umbrella and a rusty trombone.
In a Season 29 episode, Oscar sang "Grouches Love Trash" a variation of this song to his niece Irvine.
Grover, Telly and Zoe each sing a verse of the song (with changed lyrics to suit their interests) in the CD-ROM game The Three Grouchketeers.
At the Jim Henson's Musical World concert on April 14, 2012, Elmo, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Gordon, Bob, Susan, Leela, Gina, Alan and Maria performed the song.