Waste and recycling provision: information for developers

We are committed to maximising recycling of household waste, diverting as much waste as possible away from landfill and meeting its recycling targets.

We offer a three-stream system for waste and recycling. This consists of a dry-recyclables collection, an organic-waste collection and a residual-waste collection. The services are available to all household premises including students. Collections of all these streams are fortnightly.

It is important to consider at the early stage of planning the necessary provision for waste and recycling. We are keen to assist in providing information to help this process, although it should be noted that this document is only designed to give general information to help this early stage. More specific information can only be provided with more details about a particular development.

The RECAP (Recycling for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) Partnership has produced a design guide giving additional information and requirements. It is a particularly useful starting point for large developments, or developments where collection vehicles enter a site.

Experience shows that residents who are responsible for their own individual containers do more recycling and create less contamination. Therefore wherever possible individual containers are preferred. However, it is also acknowledged that communal provision is sometimes necessary and can be more advantageous where space is at a premium. It is vital that adequate space and arrangements for the storage and collection of waste and recycling are considered at the earliest stage. The design must take space requirements and operational arrangements into account.

Types of waste and recycling

The following sections provide general information about the different waste streams collected by the council from households within the city.

Dry recycling collection (blue bins)

Organic waste collection (green bins)

Residual waste collection (black bins)

Capacity requirements for flats

Flats usually require communal provision for all residents to use. This provision needs to be convenient and accessible both for the resident and for collection staff. The table below gives details of the capacity requirements per person.

Stream	Required capacity
Dry recycling	45 litres per person
Organic waste	20–30 litres per person, depending on garden
Residual waste	40–50 litres per person, depending on kitchen facility arrangements

Planning considerations

• The collection service is a kerbside collection service, therefore bins must be accessible directly from the kerbside, without pulling distances except for large-scale flat developments where a 10-metre pulling distance is acceptable
• Adequate off-street storage must be provided for bins, and storage areas need to have sufficient space for all the necessary waste and recycling containers
• Consideration should be given as to whether there is a requirement to lock communal bin stores. If there is this intention, the type should be discussed in advance where our staff require access
• Storage areas should be conveniently located with easy access for residents — residents should not have to take their waste and recycling more than 30 metres to a bin storage area or take their waste more than 25 metres to a collection point, in accordance with Approved Document H Guidance
• In large-scale developments, storage areas need to be accessible by vehicles — if not, arrangements will need to be made by owners or managing agents for bins to be moved to a point where a collection vehicle can easily get access
• For communal bins, storage areas must be within 10 metres of an access point for collection vehicles. The surface to the collection point should be uninterrupted, level with no gravel or similar covering and have a width to enable the easy passage of wheeled bins. For four-wheeled bins this should be 1.5 metres wide (including doorways), with a maximum gradient of 1:12
• Drop kerbs should be provided where appropriate, in particular where four-wheeled bins are used, so that bins can be easily wheeled to the vehicle on the public highway
• Have protection strips in doorways and on walls to prevent damage
• Vehicular access in terms of vehicle weights, turning circles, width, etc, needs to be taken into account in the design
• Developers need to be aware that the city's standard refuse vehicles weigh 26 tonnes so will be unable to travel on un-adopted highway without a liability disclaimer. Un-adopted highway, where it is required, should be constructed to an adoptable weight-bearing standard

Bin dimensions

Capacity (litres)	140	240	360	660	940	1,100
Weight (kg)	12	15.5	23	50	114	60-110
Height (mm)	1,070	1,070	1,070	1,170	1,450	1,380
Width (mm)	480	580	620	1,360	1,040	1,270
Depth (mm)	555	740	860	770	1,000	1,080

Please note:

Where communal large bins are required, the council have historically used 940-litre metal bins for refuse; we will however be flexible on bin sizes. It should be noted that the council does not use this bin size for dry recycling or organic waste, and instead uses 1,100 litre bins and all the smaller-size bins depending on the capacity required
• All bins open along the width. This is therefore the front of the bin and it must be positioned with the front edge facing forward, so that the bin can be opened for residents to place the waste and recycling inside

Vehicular access

We currently operate a number of different-sized vehicles. The majority that we operate at present are Dennis Eagle 6x2 chassis plated at 26,000 kgs gvw. The chassis configuration differs between vehicles, however the largest turning circle is on our mid-steer vehicles used for recycling.

Typical maximum dimensions are as follows:

• Width: 2,500mm (without mirrors)
• Height: 3,400mm (without hazard beacons)
• Turning circle: 22,800mm
• Overall length: 11,500mm (from front to rear of bin lift)

Contact

If you require any further information, please email Chloe Hipwood, Waste Development Officer, at chloe.hipwood@cambridge.gov.uk.