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Servicing and Recycling Strategy

Behind every great man there is a women with a large wardrobe. So the saying goes. Behind every posh hotel, famous opera house or top ranking university there is a reasonably smelly room designated for waste and recycling. This is not glamorous, but it is just as important as the buildings lighting, heating or other building service.

bin store layout for nursing homeWe now understand that we have to recycle, and segregation of our waste is required where ever we go. In the back room setting, we require sometimes several types of bin to accommodate this broader waste stream. If the building is large these will be large bins, and lots of large bins require a large room!

If space is not made for this in a buildings design in Servicing and Recycling Strategy, then the building will be hard to use, and perhaps cause compliance issues as waste cannot be stored properly.

A Servicing and Recycling Strategy sets out all of the different requirements, and aims to make future operation a breeze. Further detail below:

 Storage Space

The above bin store Servicing and Recycling Strategy is for a 60 bed residential care home and is approx. 4m x 8m. That is quite a large room. In this instance the local authority provides collections dry recyclables, and so are likely to allow mingle dry recycles as a bin choice, but some councils may not resulting in even more bins being required, and an even larger bin store.

Signage

The Servicing and Recycling Strategy should spell out which bins will need to be labeled. The answer here is all bins need to be labeled, miss labeled bins (or unlabeled bins) will cost the council (if residential) or your business money (if commercial). Contamination of say genral waste which clinical waste, will means that 1m3 of general waste has to be disposed of a clinical (expensive) because someone put some surgical scrubs in the wrong bin.

Purchasing Bins

90% you will have to buy your own bins. Gone are the days of free wheelie bins!

Collection Point Road, Vehicle and Operative Access

Where you put you bin store is also important and effects layout of development. Good vehicular and pedestrian access will be required. Refuse trucks (HGVs) need lots of space to turn and are noisy and smelly, so placement of the bin store and a justification for this in Servicing and Recycling Strategy will be important.