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Waste in its Place Vacuum System Prevents Garbage, Recycling Cross-Contamination
November, 2008
By Kerry LeBreton
Waste management is a critical issue in cities across the country. The issues of landfill scarcity and lax recycling efforts are often in the press, but despite all this focus on waste, improvements are gradual and time is short.
Apartment buildings and condominiums currently have the lowest rate of waste diversion - in Toronto, for example, at 13% in comparison to single detached homes at 56%. This is likely because it is easy for tenants to place all of their waste in dark plastic garbage bags and drop them down the garbage chute without much thought or consequence. Homeowners, on the other hand, have to drag waste to the curb and possibly be judged by their neighbours as well.
High-rise design is a factor, however. Residents often have farther to carry their garbage, recycling and organics than do homeowners whose bins are just outside their front doors.
Tri-sorters are an option used in many new high-rises with mixed results. Some people do not like to wait up to 10 seconds for the chute to shift in order to direct the garbage into the garbage bin, the recycling to its recycling bin, and the organics to its separate bin (if organics is included). Instead, they will throw everything down the chute no matter where the chute is pointed, thus contaminating recycling with waste or dropping recycling in the waste bin.
This is one area where a little international perspective could offer some solutions. Vacuum waste tube collection was originally developed in Sweden in the 1960s and has since been used to great advantage, eliminating bulky garbage bins in downtown cores across Europe.
The technology has also proven to reduce traffic congestion and emissions because there are fewer garbage trucks on busy city streets. The benefits of locating waste underground and out of the way is particularly clear in cities with higher densities and pest problems, or in any community that values public space.
The Beijing Olympics Congress Hall and adjoining buildings showcase the technology. The system separated all of the organic waste generated by approximately 110,000 people during the games, diverting it from landfill. This same system could be applied to new condominiums and apartment buildings.
Tenants would place organic waste into a hermetically sealed pipe located in every kitchen, and it would then be transported via vacuum to an allotted waste bin for pick-up. There are many different scenarios in which the pipe system can run similar to the standard chute systems or simply in key areas of the buildings for tenants to drop off their waste.
Separating the waste into the proper elements at the source is the key to high diversion rates. The system can be designed to with multiple collection containers for waste disposal or with multiple pipe systems to transport the waste. Each system must be tailored to fit the application.
As spinoff benefits, the system eliminates waste odours in residential areas, overflowing waste bins and possible attractions for vermin.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) offers a major opportunity for architects and developers to design a new era of buildings that will also provide for healthier living as well as a longer life cycle for the building, but, when it comes to waste management, it doesn't give enough direction. LEED buildings are simply required to have a recycling room. Considering all of the effort put forth to save energy, water, improve indoor air quality, manage rainwater run-off etc., design features that reduce waste and offer a solution to cross-contamination of recycling and waste materials should be on this list.
Kerry LeBreton is Sales/Marketing Manager with Puzer Canada, manufacturers and marketers of central vacuum cleaning, waste collection and sorting systems. For more information, see the www.puztech.com. The preceding article is reprinted from CondoBusiness, November 2008.
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