Wheeled bin pilot proposal for London Terrace
Once the largest apartment development in the world, London Terrace contains 1700 apartments occupying an entire city block in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. All the waste and recycling is currently set out in bags on the sidewalk of 24th street, causing obstacles for pedestrians, rat and odor problems, and disruptions to traffic. On Saturdays - trash and recycling pick-up day - the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) staff spend over an hour loading about 1000 bags of trash and recycling into 3 trucks. Trash is also picked up on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Trash and recycling set-out at London Terrace showing the scale of the waste bags
Wheeled bins are already used within the buildings for transporting waste and recycling from storage rooms in the cellar to the sidewalk. A proposed pilot would use similar bins, sized 1.5 cubic yards, that are directly emptied into DSNY’s rear loading trucks. This would require a retrofit of existing trucks at an approximate cost of $10,000 per vehicle, but the solution improves streetscapes and operational efficiencies. Loading times could be cut by half, and sanitation workers wouldn’t manually handle any of the waste – resulting in fewer injuries and reduced workers’ compensation costs.
A diagram of waste flows within the development, showing wheeled bins in use on each floor for collection of recycling from recycling closets, storage and movement to sidewalk level from the basement refuse area.
Using the GPS devices on trucks to predict arrival times, wheeled bins could be kept inside until just before collection. Waste bins with seals on the lids can eliminate pests and odors in the building and on the sidewalk. Similar bins - 1100 liter wheelie bins - are used in most cities globally, such as London, Paris, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The pilot could include wheeled 1.5 cubic yard bins for trash and recycling, 64 gallon bins for food scraps, and bales of paper and cardboard.
An example of a truck equipped to directly empty wheeled bins.
An existing wheeled bin in use to transport trash bags up the service ramp to sidewalk level.
Using the GPS devices on trucks to predict arrival times, wheeled bins could be kept inside until just before collection. Waste bins with seals on the lids can eliminate pests and odors in the building and on the sidewalk. Similar bins - 1100 liter wheelie bins - are used in most cities globally, such as London, Paris, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The pilot could include wheeled 1.5 cubic yard bins for trash and recycling, 64 gallon bins for food scraps, and bales of paper and cardboard.
An illustration of the space requirements for trash, single-stream recycling, cardboard and organic waste collections in the existing setup (L) compared to the use of wheeled bins in conjunction with baled cardboard and separated organic waste (R).
Unlike Clean Curbs enclosures, or shared waste bins in the parking lane, these wheeled bins have no permanent presence on the streetscape, do not require maintenance agreements, and could make waste collection quick, clean and efficient.
Piloting this approach would allow for assessment of benefits to building staff and DSNY labor; reduction in the amount of time trucks spend on the block; and quality of life improvements to streetscapes. This would provide valuable information to help the city transition to containerized waste citywide.
Wheeled bin pilot proposal for London Terrace
Once the largest apartment development in the world, London Terrace contains 1700 apartments occupying an entire city block in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. All the waste and recycling is currently set out in bags on the sidewalk of 24th street, causing obstacles for pedestrians, rat and odor problems, and disruptions to traffic. On Saturdays - trash and recycling pick-up day - the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) staff spend over an hour loading about 1000 bags of trash and recycling into 3 trucks. Trash is also picked up on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Trash and recycling set-out at London Terrace showing the scale of the waste bags
Wheeled bins are already used within the buildings for transporting waste and recycling from storage rooms in the cellar to the sidewalk. A proposed pilot would use similar bins, sized 1.5 cubic yards, that are directly emptied into DSNY’s rear loading trucks. This would require a retrofit of existing trucks at an approximate cost of $10,000 per vehicle, but the solution improves streetscapes and operational efficiencies. Loading times could be cut by half, and sanitation workers wouldn’t manually handle any of the waste – resulting in fewer injuries and reduced workers’ compensation costs.
A diagram of waste flows within the development, showing wheeled bins in use on each floor for collection of recycling from recycling closets, storage and movement to sidewalk level from the basement refuse area.
Using the GPS devices on trucks to predict arrival times, wheeled bins could be kept inside until just before collection. Waste bins with seals on the lids can eliminate pests and odors in the building and on the sidewalk. Similar bins - 1100 liter wheelie bins - are used in most cities globally, such as London, Paris, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The pilot could include wheeled 1.5 cubic yard bins for trash and recycling, 64 gallon bins for food scraps, and bales of paper and cardboard.
An example of a truck equipped to directly empty wheeled bins.
An existing wheeled bin in use to transport trash bags up the service ramp to sidewalk level.
Using the GPS devices on trucks to predict arrival times, wheeled bins could be kept inside until just before collection. Waste bins with seals on the lids can eliminate pests and odors in the building and on the sidewalk. Similar bins - 1100 liter wheelie bins - are used in most cities globally, such as London, Paris, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The pilot could include wheeled 1.5 cubic yard bins for trash and recycling, 64 gallon bins for food scraps, and bales of paper and cardboard.
An illustration of the space requirements for trash, single-stream recycling, cardboard and organic waste collections in the existing setup (L) compared to the use of wheeled bins in conjunction with baled cardboard and separated organic waste (R).
Unlike Clean Curbs enclosures, or shared waste bins in the parking lane, these wheeled bins have no permanent presence on the streetscape, do not require maintenance agreements, and could make waste collection quick, clean and efficient.
Piloting this approach would allow for assessment of benefits to building staff and DSNY labor; reduction in the amount of time trucks spend on the block; and quality of life improvements to streetscapes. This would provide valuable information to help the city transition to containerized waste citywide.