DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF DWELLING HOUSES AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS FOR WASTE COLLECTION SERVICES AND REFUSE VEHICLE ACCESS POLICY AND GUIDANCE NOTES Thurrock Council Waste Services November 2008
Contents Section 1: Waste and Recycling Containers 1.1 Provision of containers 1.2 Houses 1.3 - Communal dwellings 1.4 - Container dimensions Section 2: Collection Frequencies 2.1 Houses 2.2 Communal dwellings Section 3: Access to Containers 3.1 Collection points 3.2 Vehicle access 3.3 Footpaths and pathways 3.4 Parking 3.5 Key access Section 4: Bulky Waste Collections Section 5: Recycling Banks Section 6: Section 17 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Section 7: Relevant Environmental Legislation Section 8: References
Policy Statement This Policy and Guidance note has been prepared for the information of Developers and occupants of new and refurbished residential properties It sets out the minimum standards for the provision and storage of refuse and recycling containers within the curtilage of dwelling houses and flats, together with standards for the construction and layout of roadways. The Standards set out in the Policy are mandatory and will be applied by Thurrock Council pursuant to the Statutory Requirements of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992.
Section 1: Waste and Recycling Containers 1.1 Provision of containers It is the responsibility of developers/property managers to purchase all containers for new and refurbished developments. This requirement is inclusive of containers for residual waste, dry-recyclables and kitchen/garden waste collections. 1.2 Houses Every household is required to have the following provisions for refuse and recycling collections: 1 x 180 litre grey wheeled bin for residual waste 1 x 240 litre blue wheeled bin for dry-recyclables 1 x 240 litre brown wheeled bin for kitchen and garden waste The provision of containers is uniform for all houses, regardless of their size. It is the responsibility of the developer to ensure that there is provision of sufficient space for the footprint of all containers (dimensions below) within the curtilage of the property. 1.3 Flats Flats are to be provided with communal bins located in secure compound areas. The provision of metal containers for both residual waste and recyclable materials should provide adequate capacity to prevent the placement of material outside the container. Waste that is not placed within a container will not be collected from multi occupancy dwellings. The number and size of containers will be dependant upon the number of households contained within the development. Table 1 (below) shows the number and size of bins for the corresponding number of units. For developments of less than 4 units, it is recommended that each unit has individual bins. Table 1: Schedule of bin sizes and numbers for corresponding number of units Number of units Number of refuse containers required Number of recycling containers required 4 1 x 1100 litre 1 x 1100 litre 6 1 x 1100 litre 1 x 1100 litre 8 1 x 1100 litre 2 x 1100 litre 10 2 x 1100 litre 2 x 1100 litre 12 2 x 1100 litre 3 x 1100 litre 14 2 x 1100 litre 3 x 1100 litre 16 3 x 1100 litre 3 x 1100 litre 18 3 x 1100 litre 4 x 1100 litre 20 3 x 1100 litre 4 x 1100 litre 22 4 x 1100 litre 5 x 1100 litre
24 4 x 1100 litre 5 x 1100 litre 26 4 x 1100 litre 6 x 1100 litre 28 5 x 1100 litre 6 x 1100 litre 30 5 x 1100 litre 7 x 1100 litre Please note: all 1100 litre containers must be metal. The calculation used to estimate refuse and recycling provision is as follows: Number of households x 180-litre capacity (residual waste) Number of households x 240-litre capacity (dry recycling) Containers for dry-recyclables are to be coloured red and clearly labelled for recyclable materials (labels to be obtained through Thurrock Council). 1100 litre containers for recycling are to have a double flap lid with diamond key lock. Garden waste sacks can be supplied to residents of flats with gardens. 1.4 Container dimensions Table 2: Dimensions of recommended refuse and recycling containers Height (mm) Width (mm) Depth (mm) 180 litre wheeled bin 1060 482.6 736.6 240 litre wheeled bin 1060 575 730 360 litre wheeled bin 1080 580 875 1100 litre container 1700 1500 1200 NB: Dimensions are approximate All containers should comply with British Standard BSEN840 Section 2: Collection Frequencies Note: The collection frequencies as detailed below are applicable with effect from August 2009. 2.1 Houses Residual waste Dry recyclables Kitchen and garden waste 2.2 Flats Residual waste Dry recyclables Section 3: Access to Containers There should be adequate storage of and access to all containers for refuse and recycling. Containers must be stored so as to be accessible at all times on collection days.
Thurrock Council must agree all collection points for flats prior to construction and occupation. 3.1 Collection points Thurrock Council adheres to Part H of the Building Regulations (2000). Residents should not walk more than 30m (excluding and vertical distance to the refuse storage/collection point. Refuse collectors should not walk more than 25m from their vehicle to the refuse storage/collection point. The gradient between the expected stopping point of the vehicle and the storage/collection point should not exceed 1:12. Additionally, there should be no steps to negotiate for collection. There must be a dropped kerb in the planned kerbside location for collection of refuse and recycling containers. 3.2 Vehicle access Thurrock Council follows the Essex Design Guide for Residential and Mixed Use Areas whereby the minimum allowable street width is 4.8m. In line with British Standard 5906 (2005), Thurrock Council recommends a maximum reversing distance of 12m, although longer distances can be considered if they are straight routes free from obstacles and visual obstruction. Collection points are to be accessible from the kerbside of adopted highway roads, refuse collection vehicles should not access private roads of developments but in cases where this is unavoidable developers/property managers will need to ensure that the roads are built to adopted highway standards and that the access is appropriate for the collection vehicles. Developers/property managers will be required to take a legal indemnity for all private roadways as insurance claims against the contractor (or Thurrock Council) may lead to a revision of the collection point to ensure that the vehicle remains within the adopted Public Highway. The Manual for Streets 2007 states that it may be assumed that service vehicles will have to use the full width of the carriageway to manoeuvre (DfT, 2007:4). It is expected that in some circumstances, large vehicles (such as refuse collection vehicles) will need to carry out multi point turns, rather than being able to turn in one movement. Well-connected streets are beneficial for the movement of larger vehicles as a shorter route can be used and reversing can be avoided in some cases. Developments in excess of 25 units are required to submit for approval a Refuse Vehicle Access Strategy. This should include details of a suitable turning area for refuse vehicles, a swept path analysis of refuse vehicle turning movements and details of bin locations within the residential curtilages and on collection day. Developments of less than 25 units are not required to provide a Refuse Vehicle Access Strategy, although suitable turning facilities should be demonstrated. Turning heads for refuse vehicles are not required on side roads less than 20m long that do not take access from a classified road. The turning circles, to be taken into consideration for road layouts, are as follows: Diameter kerb to kerb 17000mm
Diameter wall to wall 18700mm NB: Turning circles are theoretically calculated Refuse collection vehicle dimensions 10.6m length 3.5m width 3.7m height 3.3 Footpaths and pathways Pathways intended to be used to wheel containers must be wide enough to accommodate the container and a crewmember therefore 1m must be added to the width of the container to estimate the minimum necessary path width. Pathways that are to be used for refuse collection (all types of containers) must be level and have up-stands no higher than 6mm. 3.4 Parking Parking areas are to be planned to prevent obstruction of refuse and recycling stores i.e. to allow a container to be pulled out and emptied; this may require that bays alongside refuse stores are blocked out so that bins can be removed for collection. On-street parking can cause obstructions for refuse collection vehicles and can lead to access problems. The Manual for Streets states that footway parking should be avoided (DfT, 2007:5). 3.5 Key access Collections from multi occupancy dwellings will not be made from bin stores having non-standard padlocks and/or key code. All access doors, which are required to be locked, should only be fitted with standard FB padlocks. 4: Bulky Waste Collections Residents and management companies should be made aware that bulky waste is a chargeable service in accordance with the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992: Schedule 2. Arrangements for collection of bulky waste should be made with Thurrock Council for removal. Bulky items not registered for this service will not be collected from container storage/collection areas. 5: Recycling Banks Developments in excess of 100 residential dwellings and/or 500m 2 of retail/leisure development will be expected to provide or contribute towards local community recycling facilities, these will be in addition to kerbside recycling. This will be assessed upon expected future needs of the area. Recycling banks are located in areas of community use, providing additional recycling capacity to complement the kerbside scheme. The number of containers at
a mini recycling site ranges from three to six (dependant on size of site and extent of provision of facilities in the local are). Height (mm) Width (mm) Depth (mm) Recycling bank 1800 2000 2000 There needs to be hard standing to accommodate banks and for vehicle access. 6: Section 17 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 It is the duty of a local authority to do all that it reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder in its area (including anti social behaviour adversely affecting the local environment). With respect to this, it is necessary to consider the implications of Section 17 in the location and storage of refuse and recycling containers. Areas designated for the storage of refuse and recycling containers should be appropriately located and secure by design to prevent being a target for anti social behaviour. 7: Relevant Environmental Legislation Section 45 Environmental Protection Act 1990 (1) It shall be the duty of each waste collection authority (a) to arrange for the collection of household waste in its area except waste (i) which is situated at a place which in the opinion of the authority is so isolated or inaccessible that the cost of collecting it would be unreasonably high. Section 46 Environmental Protection Act 1990 Where a waste collection authority has a duty by virtue of Section 45 (1) (a) To arrange for the collection of household waste from any premises, the authority may, by notice served on him, require the occupier to place waste for collection in receptacles of a kind and number specified. (2) The kind and number of receptacles required under sub section (1) above to be used shall be such only as are reasonable but, subject to that, separate receptacles or compartments of receptacles may be required to be used for waste which is to be recycled and waste which is not. (4) In making requirements as respects receptacles under sub section (1) above, the authority may, by the notice of that sub section, make provision to (i) The size, construction and maintenance of the receptacles; (ii) The placing of the receptacles for the purpose of facilitating the emptying of them and access to the receptacles for that purpose.
8: References British Standards Institute (BSI) (2005) BS 5906: 2005 Waste Management in Buildings Code of Practice. London: BSI Department for Transport (2007) Manual for Streets: A Summery. Thomas Telford Ltd: Tonbridge. British Standards (2004) Mobile Waste Containers. London. Essex Design Guide and Essex Planning Officers Association (1997) Essex Design Guide for Residential and Mixed Use Areas Statutory Instrument (2000) No. 2531, The Building Regulations 2000. London: TSO Statutory Instrument 1992 No. 588 The Controlled Waste Regulations Statutory Instrument 1990 No. *** - The Environmental Protection Act Thurrock Council (2008) Contamination Policy Thurrock Council (2008) Side Waste Policy Thurrock Council (2008) Large Family/Second Bin Policy Thurrock Council (2008) Wheeled Bin Policy