In a previous residential project, we explained that occupants bring their recyclables to a centralized storage area located in the basement, where sorting bins are provided. However, for office buildings, it is not typical for occupants to go down to the basement to dispose of their waste. In this case, I would like to understand how others typically approach or guide this issue.

For our current high-rise office project, we are considering the following strategy:

Providing recycling bins for the 5 required material streams on each floor
Designing a Waste Storage room in the basement for centralized collection, including separate bins for special waste such as batteries and e-waste

With this approach, I have a couple of questions:

If recycling bins for the five required material streams are provided on each floor, is it acceptable for the basement Waste Storage room not to include designated areas or bins for those recyclables?
In practice, is it expected to provide recycling bins on every floor? If not, do reviewers typically raise comments regarding accessibility for occupants?

I would appreciate any insights or experiences you could share.

Thank you in advance.

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Grace Friedhoff

Sustainability Consultant | Senior Project Manager

Re:Vision Architecture

LEEDuser Premium Member

10 thumbs up

Fri, 03/27/2026 - 17:30

My understanding of the prerequisite is that it does allow for a decent amount of flexibility. As long as you can ensure that you are recycling, the how and where exactly can be up to the individual project's discretion. That being said, I do sincerely think it is best practice to put recycling on each floor. The average person at work is not going to hunt down receptacles across long distances. My best-practice recommendations are:

Always co-locate trash and recycling bins. So if there is a trash bin, you should have a recycling bin right next to it (or at least within eye sight.)
- This is easier to do when you have single-stream recycling - so one bin for all 5 recycling streams (as is often the case in projects I work on in the United States.)
- Make the right decision the easy decision.
Picture the path of a plastic bottle from a worker's hands to the recycling center. Plan for that and be able to provide a narrative of how it is making it's way through the project and eventually to the recycling center - successfully.
- If I am walking through your project, where do I go to recycle? (How is that made clear to me?)
- What does the cleaning staff then do with that receptacle? (Do they take it to a basement / dumpster /etc)
- From the collection point, how are you ensuring the waste hauler does not just throw all the trash and recycling into the landfill? (Do you have separate dumpsters?)
- How often is it being picked up by the waste hauler? Are you sure the size of the dumpster / bin / etc is appropriate for the amount of waste anticipated to be generated? (You don't want everything overflowing and you also don't want the dumpster to be 2/3 empty each time the hauler comes)

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