Dear All,
I have a 6 story office building with one garbage shoot linked to a garbage sorting room outside the building but within the LEED project boundary. I was intending to let the while garbage be sorted on this room until I got the following reviewer comment:
"recycling collection points should be established within common areas to allow access to occupants. The recycling program should teach occupants and other building users about recycling"
Now my question is that: Can I place only two bins for each office/workstation; one for (paper) and one for (other), where the paper will be shoot to the garbage room separately, then the (other) will be shoot on a different time to the sorting room, and sorted inside, OR should I place the whole five categories in a place accessible to all occupants?
knowing that the second option isn't very applicable since that every occupant will have to leave his office to discard anything!
Jon Clifford
LEED-AP BD+CGREENSQUARE
LEEDuser Expert
327 thumbs up
August 18, 2014 - 2:14 pm
Option 1 (double bins at each workstation) should be acceptable, since paper is the most common recyclable in office areas. We have used this approach in the past.
You should also provide centralized receptacles for the other categories at each floor. The key is to locate collection points near waste sources. For example, put bins for glass, plastic, and metals in common areas and lunchrooms where people use bottles & cans. Gather cardboard in shipping & receiving areas, and collect paper at copy rooms, mailrooms, & offices.
Besides teaching “building users about recycling,” using separate receptacles allows users to “self-sort” at the source and eliminates the need to sort later. However, since you only have one garbage chute, your challenge is to avoid “remixing” recyclables or contaminating recyclables with non-recyclable wastes. You have suggested timing separate drops for each type of waste. You could also use marked bags or other strategies.
In any case, match your strategies to the capabilities of your building operator and your waste hauler’s needs. Many recyclers will allow intermingling of some commodities (for example, plastic & metals).