Waste And Bin Storage On A Supported Site

Waste storage gets the least design attention of anything on a site and generates a steady stream of complaints after handover.

The reason is simple. The bins get a location rather than a design, and nobody traces the path a resident actually has to take to use them.

The path is the design

A resident in a wheelchair taking a bag of rubbish out needs a continuous, level, firm path from the door to the bin, wide enough to travel with something in their hands, with no step, no soft surface and no gate they cannot operate.

Which is a different requirement from a path that merely exists. The usual failures:

**A step or a kerb** somewhere on the route, often where a path joins a driveway.

**A gravel or turf section,** which a wheelchair cannot cross and a walking frame catches in.

**A gate with a latch above reach** or a self-closing gate that cannot be held open while passing through.

**A cross fall** steep enough that a wheelchair pulls to one side.

**A distance too far** to be practical for somebody with limited endurance.

That path is part of the continuous accessible path across the site, designed as described in [access paths, parking and arrival](/blog/access-paths-parking-and-arrival).

The bins themselves

A standard wheeled bin is not usable from a seated position. The lid is at chest height, it requires two hands, and the opening is beyond comfortable reach.

Which means either a different receptacle, an enclosure with a lower chute or a hinged opening at the right height, or a support model where staff handle the waste and the resident uses an internal container.

Deciding which one is an operational question answered by the provider, which makes it part of the conversation in [what an accommodation provider needs from a builder](/blog/what-an-accommodation-provider-needs-from-a-builder). It cannot be resolved by the designer alone, and it cannot be resolved after the paths are poured.

The collection side

The truck has to be able to service the bins, which is a separate set of requirements.

**A hardstand** on the collection route, at the kerb or at a presentation point, capable of taking the bins on collection day.

**A route the bins can be moved along,** by staff or by a collection contractor, which may be different from the resident's path.

**Clearance for the collection vehicle,** including overhead clearance for a side-lift arm and no parked vehicles in the presentation zone.

**A distance from the dwelling** that satisfies the local council requirement, which varies and should be confirmed rather than assumed.

Where the site cannot present bins at the kerb, a private collection arrangement is required, and that changes the hardstand and the access requirements.

Separation and screening

Bins beside a window, a door or an outdoor living area cause odour, insects and noise on collection morning.

So the location is set away from the private open space described in [private open space in accessible housing](/blog/private-open-space-in-accessible-housing), away from bedroom windows, and away from any air intake for the mechanical ventilation system.

And it is screened, from the dwelling and from the street, with a structure that is ventilated rather than sealed, that can be cleaned, and that has a floor that can be hosed and drains somewhere legal. A sealed enclosure that holds water is worse than no enclosure.

The construction of it sits in the external works described in [landscaping and external works](/blog/landscaping-and-external-works).

Clinical and medical waste

A supported dwelling with clinical care produces waste that cannot go in a general bin.

Sharps, continence products and clinical waste all have separate handling, storage and collection requirements, and the storage has to be secured against access by residents and visitors.

Which means a lockable, ventilated, separately located store, with a path for staff and for the collection contractor. It is a specific requirement of the care model rather than a general one, and it follows from the same questions asked in [modular for health and clinical settings](/blog/modular-for-health-and-clinical-settings).

Recycling and the number of streams

Three or four streams per dwelling is now normal, and a multi-dwelling site multiplies that.

Which is a space calculation done at design stage rather than discovered at handover: number of bins, by stream, by dwelling, plus the hardstand area, plus the circulation around them. A store sized for two bins and asked to hold eight ends up with bins on the path.

On a multi-dwelling project the arithmetic compounds quickly, which is part of the planning covered in [multi-dwelling projects and the value of repetition](/blog/multi-dwelling-projects-and-the-value-of-repetition).

What we deliver. Discuss a project.

MADEmodular / MADEbetter.